"Southampton City Council is the local authority of the city of Southampton. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. The council runs two municipal companies, 'CItizEN' a not-for-profit energy company and the 'Southampton Local Authority Trading Company', which covers various public services. The council uses a leader and cabinet structure. Since 2012 the Labour Party has been in administration. The council is a member of the South East England Councils association and 'Key Cities', a lobby group."
"Southampton City Council has records in its archives of council meetings as early as 1199. The Local Government Act 1888 established Southampton as a county borough of the county Hampshire, then officially known as the County of Southampton. This meant that the city of Southampton had independent governance from the county.