About the Council

We are a vibrant forward-thinking council that puts ‘People and Place’ at the heart of everything we do.

We are involved with a range of exciting and innovative projects with private and public sector partners to ensure the borough remains a great place to live and work. These include the creation of the UA92 University and Civic Quarter regenerations. On a sporting level, we held the Cricket World Cup at Lancashire CCC’s Emirates Old Trafford ground, we hosted the opening game of the Women’s Euros and we are also a host venue for the Rugby League World Cup.

The outstanding recent GCSE results in Trafford make our schools one of the best in the UK and are another reason why Trafford is one of the most sought-after areas of the country in which to live.

In addition, our One Trafford Partnership with Amey PLC provides a broad range of council services such as domestic and business waste collection, highway management and maintenance, parks and green space maintenance, facilities and estates management and a range of technical consultancy services.

Since 2010, we have continued to provide high quality services across the borough – despite central government budget cuts. We have successfully reduced expenditure by £186m over this period, while having one of the lowest council tax levels in the country. This has been no easy challenge for a low funded, low tax authority like Trafford and has only been achieved by a strong culture of innovation and robust financial management.

Find out more about us throughout this site or by visiting: https://www.trafford.gov.uk/about-your-council/about-us/about-trafford-council.aspx

Partnership working

Trafford have a strong ethos and commitment to partnership and collaborative working, and have relaunched our Local Strategic Partnership to develop the Trafford Together Locality Plan.

The Locality Plan is our plan to improve the physical and mental health of people in Trafford. The plan brings together organisations from across the public, private, voluntary, faith and community sectors and local residents. Members of the partnership work together to achieve a common vision to ensure Trafford is a place where our residents achieve their aspirations, and our communities are thriving.

For further information about our Locality Plan, please visit: Trafford Together Locality Plan (traffordpartnership.org)

Political Composition

Following the elections in May 2022, Labour has majority control.

We have an elected Leader and Cabinet structure. The full council is made up of 63 locally elected councillors representing 21 wards who make decisions on how to improve local services on behalf of residents.

Political composition for 2022/2023:

Leadership Team

We have a very talented and dedicated workforce across our directorates. The day-to-day management of the council and its services is carried out by the Corporate Leadership Team

• Sara Todd, Chief Executive
• Sara Saleh, Deputy CEX & Corporate Director of Strategy & Resources
• Richard Roe, Corporate Director of Place
• Jill McGregor, Corporate Director of Children’s Services
• Diane Eaton, Corporate Director of Adult Services
• Dominque Sykes, Director of Legal & Governance
• Graeme Bentley, Director of Finance and Systems
• Gareth James, Deputy Place Based Lead

The Executive

The Executive is responsible for all key decisions and the strategic management of services, and acts in line with the policy framework and budget of The Council.

It consists of the Leader of the Council and nine other Executive Councillors, each of whom holds an Executive Portfolio.

Most of the important decisions are made by the Executive collectively, although Executive Councillors can take some decisions individually within their area of responsibility.