Toggle menu

    About Gateshead Council

    As a citizen, you have a right to know what your council is doing, how it is doing it and how you can take part. Our Constitution outlines what your rights are, from voting and petitions to what meetings you can attend.

    The Borough of Gateshead is split into 22 wards, each with three councillors elected by local people. The Council employs 4,192 people to provide essential services to a population of 196,100.

    The full Council, consisting of the 66 local ward councillors, chooses a Leader and Cabinet made up of nine other councillors. The Cabinet makes day-to-day decisions about council services, and residents can attend these meetings, except where personal or confidential matters are being discussed.

    The full Council meets monthly to agree budgets, plans and policies within which the Cabinet must work. All Council meetings are open to the public, and residents can present petitions or put questions to the Leader and Cabinet members.

    So that everyone knows what is going on, a plan is available listing the key decisions that the Cabinet will make over the next few months.

    The Council wants to provide the best possible services for local people. This means providing services that people not only want and need but also making sure they:

    • improve all the time;
    • are cost effective;
    • are developed in partnership with local people and users;
    • are delivered by staff who are well informed, well trained and committed.

    The management and functions of the Council are structured into eight groups.

    Children's Social Care and Lifelong Learning

    • Children's Social Care
    • Education, Schools and Inclusion
    • Schools

    Corporate Services and Governance

    • Corporate Commissioning and Procurement
    • Human Resources and Workforce Development
    • Legal and Democratic Services
    • Lord Lieutenant's Office
    • Public Service Reform

    Economy, Innovation and Growth

    • Business, Employment and Skills
    • Climate Change, Compliance, Planning and Transport
    • Energy, Major Projects and Development

    Housing, Environment and Healthy Communities

    • Environment and Fleet Management
    • Gateshead Construction Services
    • Highways and Waste
    • Neighbourhood, Housing and Homelessness Services
    • Property and Assets
    • Strategic Housing and Residential Growth

    Integrated Adults and Social Care Services

    • Adult Social Care
    • Quality Assurance and Commissioning (Gateshead System)

    Office of the Chief Executive

    • Corporate Communications
    • Directorate
    • Research and Intelligence

    Public Health and Wellbeing

    • Community Safety
    • Leisure
    • Libraries
    • Public Health

    Resources and Digital

    • Commercialisation and Improvement
    • Customer Experience and Digital
    • Financial Management
    • IT Services

    The public already has a right to access some of the information produced by the Council. This includes the right to attend most Council, Cabinet and Committee meetings, with access to most of the agendas, reports, minutes and background papers of these meetings and our forward plan, which are available on the internet, at the civic centre and at all Gateshead's libraries.

    In addition Gateshead Council is committed to providing a wide range of information about its services and functions, in a variety of formats wherever possible. This information is available from service contact points.

    We aim to respond positively to individual requests for information and view the Freedom of Information Act as an opportunity to extend and improve our service to the public.

    Close

    Transparency