Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council

History

The county borough and its council were created on 1 April 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994. The borough covered the combined area of the two former districts of Port Talbot and Neath, as well as a smaller area from Lliw Valley (the majority of which went to Swansea). The new council also took over county-level responsibilities in the area from the abolished West Glamorgan County Council. The 1994 Act originally specified that the borough should be called "Neath and Port Talbot". The new authority was elected in 1995, but acted as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing county and district councils until the new arrangements took effect the following year. During that time, the shadow authority requested a change of name from "Neath and Port Talbot" to "Neath Port Talbot". The government confirmed the change with effect from 2 April 1996, one day after the new council came into being.

Political control

Since the 2022 election, the council has been under no overall control. On 23 May 2022, it was announced that a coalition between the Plaid Cymru and Independent groups would lead the council. The Liberal Democrats and Green Party members would support the coalition via a confidence and supply agreement. Independent councillor Steve Hunt became the new leader of council, with Plaid Cymru councillor Alun Llewelyn as the new deputy leader.

The first election to the new council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been as follows:

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Neath Port Talbot. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The first leader, Noel Crowley, had been the last leader of the old Port Talbot Borough Council. The leaders since 1996 have been:

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to July 2025, the composition of the council was:

As of July 2025, seventeen of the independent councillors sit together as the "Independent Group", which forms the council's administration with Plaid Cymru. One independent sits with the Liberal Democrats as the "Coedffranc Liberal & Independent" group, and the other independent does not belong to a group. The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Elections take place every five years, electing sixty councillors. The last election was 5 May 2022.

Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in notes column.

Premises

The council's main offices are at the Civic Centre in Port Talbot, which had been built in 1987 for the former Port Talbot Borough Council. Other offices are located at the New Neath Civic Centre, and The Quays in Baglan Bay.

When created in 1996, the council also inherited the former Neath Civic Centre, which was subsequently demolished in 2008 to make way for a retail development.

Electoral wards

Following a 2021 local government boundary review, the number of electoral wards dropped from 42 to 34, with the number of elected councillors reducing from 64 to 60, effective from the 2022 local elections.

Prior to this, the county borough was divided into 42 wards, listed below, returning a total of 64 councillors. Some of these wards are coterminous with communities (parishes) of the same name. There are 19 community councils in the county borough area. The following table lists council wards, communities and associated geographical areas. Communities with a community council are indicated with a '*':

Council Interests

The Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council administrates or jointly controls a number of business interests, which include:

• Afan Forest Park
• Margam Country Park

Arms

References

References

1. (12 May 2025). "Cllr Wayne Carpenter named new Mayor of Neath Port Talbot". Business News Wales.
2. "Council meeting, 8 May 2025".
3. (18 November 2024). "Council's new Chief Executive begins role calling it 'the greatest opportunity of my working life'". NPT Council.
4. (23 May 2022). "Your Councillors by Political Grouping".
5. {{cite legislation UK. (1994)
6. (2 April 1996). "Hansard: Written Answers".
7. (23 May 2022). "Plaid Cymru and independents agree to share power on Neath Port Talbot Council". Nation.cymru.
8. (23 May 2022). "Independent and Plaid coalition takes control of Neath Port Talbot Council". Swansea Bay News.
9. "Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
10. (17 August 2025). "Noel to head new authority". Port Talbot Guardian.
11. "Council minutes, 1 April 1996".
12. (14 May 2004). "Senior leaders stand down". Local Government Chronicle.
13. "Council minutes, 25 June 2004".
14. (15 March 2010). "Welsh Labour MEP stands down as Neath Port Talbot councillor".
15. "Council minutes, 15 May 2009".
16. (20 April 2017). "These are the key battlegrounds in Neath Port Talbot in the local elections". Wales Online.
17. "Council minutes, 26 May 2017".
18. (12 May 2017). "The new leader of Neath Port Talbot Council wants to make it the best authority in Wales". Wales Online.
19. (6 March 2021). "Neath Port Talbot Council Leader steps down in 'cow' row". Herald Wales.
20. "Council minutes, 17 March 2021".
21. (20 May 2022). "Labour elects new leader in Neath Port Talbot". Wales Online.
22. "Council minutes, 7 June 2022".
23. "Neath Port Talbot". Thorncliffe.
24. "Your councillors by political grouping".
25. "Trailer - Local Elections May 2017".
26. (2 June 2015). "Welsh unitary councils".
27. (6 March 1987). "Borough of Port Talbot: Transfer to new Civic Offices". Neath Guardian.
28. "Contact us".
29. (4 June 2008). "Demolition starts for town revamp". BBC News.
30. Hannah Neary. (16 July 2021). "Number of electoral wards in Neath Port Talbot to fall resulting in four fewer councillors". Wales Online.
31. "Armorial Bearings". WhatDoTheyKnow.