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About us

Marleyfield in construction 300 x 199Flintshire, as the largest local authority in North Wales, is a high performing council known for innovation in public services ranging from social housing to social services to waste management to anti-poverty. 

We are proud of our track record of protecting and valuing community-based services during a prolonged period of austerity.

Flintshire is also a leader to regional and local collaborative partnerships and has been a major contributor to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic by the public services partners.

Building on our successes

Innovation is synonymous with Flintshire County Council.

Here in Flintshire, we are committed to the provision of local services for local people and work closely with communities, partners, businesses and employees to provide a range of new, innovative and sustainable services.

For over a decade Flintshire County Council, along with every Council in the UK, has been managing the consequences of year-on-year reductions in UK and Welsh Government funding.

Even during these austere times, the Council has remained ambitious. 

What we do

Flintshire provides local public services for 156,100 people who live in 69,729 households.

With 6,113 staff we are the second largest employer in the County and provide services including, education, housing, leisure, libraries, planning, refuse collection, environmental health, recycling, roads, social services, trading standards, transport and tourism.

Flintshire has 78 schools (64 Primary, 11 Secondary, 2 Specialist, 1 PRU) attended by 23,716 pupils.

Social services support over 5000 adults and 2000 children each year.

Flintshire has seven libraries, ten sports and leisure centres (eight of these are managed by Aura Wales and two are Community Asset Transfers), three country parks and maintains 1174.8 km of County road.

Housing and Assets manage and maintain approximately 7312 council owned properties which includes 1460 sheltered properties.

Our place in Wales

Flintshire is one of 22 unitary authorities in Wales and is the largest in population in North Wales and the sixth largest in Wales. Flintshire is an active member of the Welsh Local Government Association and a number of our senior officers and members have high profile national roles working in a devolved country. 

Flintshire is the lead or co-lead for a number of collaborative strategies and services in the region including autism services, services for those at risk of domestic abuse, community safety, emergency planning, minerals and waste planning, economic growth, and waste treatment and disposal.

We are seen as a positive collaborator with an openness to partnership working to secure public value.

How we are governed

Flintshire County Council has 70 Councillors who are democratically elected normally every 5 years.  It is currently run by a minority Labour administration with a political make up of: Labour 34, Independent Alliance 16, Conservative 6, Liberal Democrats 5, New Independents 4, Independents 3 and 1 non-aligned member. We currently have 1 vacancy.

The Council has a Cabinet and a Scrutiny function.  Decisions are usually made by the Cabinet for all issues including major policy.  The role of Overview and Scrutiny Committees is to hold the Cabinet to account and to assist in the improvement and development of the Council’s policies and services.  Flintshire has five Overview and Scrutiny Committees covering:

  • Corporate Resources
  • Community, Housing & Assets
  • Education, Youth & Culture
  • Environment & Economy
  • Social and Healthcare

Follow the link for more information on the Council's governance arrangements:  http://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/Resident/Council-and-Democracy/Home.aspx

Our performance

The Council has recently reviewed and republished its Council Plan.  Through streamlining and resetting its priorities, the Plan provides clear direction for the future aims of the Council and the work needed to make it happen.  

As a public organisation the Council is regularly inspected to examine and challenge its performance and effectiveness.

The Council received a favourable Annual Audit Summary from the Audit Wales in September 2020.  “The Auditor General certified that the Council has met its legal duties for improvement planning and reporting and believes that it is likely to meet the requirements of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 during 2020-21.”

A positive annual letter from Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), reflects our strong performance throughout 2019/20. 

Estyn, the independent Inspectorate of Education and Training in Wales, in its June 2019 inspection report recognised  the good progress being made by the education service in Flintshire.  "Senior officers and elected members share a clear vision for education in Flintshire, which they express clearly in the local authority’s strategic planning. The authority works well in partnership across services areas, with schools, and with external providers. This contributes well to improving support for vulnerable learners in particular."

National recognition

The Council ranks highly not only against its peers, but also other public sector companies, for its achievements.  This is recognised by a number of regional and national awards spanning education, social service, housing and other portfolios for example:

Working in partnership

Flintshire has a longstanding and proud track record of partnership working.

Flintshire Public Services Board (PSB) is at the heart of promoting a positive culture of working together and concentrates energy, effort and resources on providing efficient and effective services to local communities.

The Voluntary Sector Compact is partnership between the Council, the Health Board and Flintshire Local Voluntary Council. Its aim is to ensure the role of the voluntary sector is properly understood by public services and opportunities to work in partnership are exploited.

Flintshire is a leading partner in a number of regional partnerships including the influential North Wales Economic Ambition Board. 

We are host for a number regional collaborative services including:

We engage fully with a range of national professional bodies such as:

Our response to COVID-19