What does my local council do?

Local government is a huge service provider - education, environmental health, housing, social services and many more all of which benefit the local community. Councils either provide services directly to the public or arrange for others to do so. Most of these services affect the daily lives of local people in a major way.

The leisure centre you keep fit in, the collection of your household rubbish, the school you or your children go to, the care of those who are disadvantaged, the hygiene standards in your local restaurants and shops, the range of reference materials in your local library - all of these things are the council’s responsibility, plus many more besides.

There are many different service areas in local government. They can be categorised into six different themes: building, caring, educating, entertaining, protecting and supporting. You can find out more about these areas and the wide variety of jobs available within them in the career profiles section.

What are the different types of council?

There are 8 different types of council including county councils, district councils, London borough councils, metropolitan councils, English, Scottish and Welsh unitary councils and district councils in Northern Ireland. In primarily urban areas, London boroughs, metropolitan and unitary councils provide all local council services. In other, mostly rural, areas responsibilities for service provision are split between county councils and district councils.

Responsibilities for different services are show in the table below:

Service provided	County	District	Metropolitan/Unitary	London Borough
Architecture, building and design
Art galleries and museums
Building control
Car parking - off street
Car parking - on street
Cemeteries
Economic development
Education
Environmental health
Fire service
Highways
Housing
Leisure and recreation
Libraries
Libraries
Parks and open spaces
Planning (local)
Planning (strategic)
Police service
Roads and footpaths
Social services
Tourism
Trading standards
Traffic and transportation co-ordination
Waste collection
Waste disposal

*Please note that the above table applies to England, Wales and Scotland only, not Northern Ireland.

How many of each type of council are there?

There are 34 county councils, 32 London boroughs, 36 metropolitan councils, 238 district councils, 47 English unitary councils and the Corporation of London. There are 32 Scottish unitary councils, 22 Welsh unitary councils and 26 Northern Irish district councils. This makes a grand total of 468.

How many people work in local government?

The following information is taken from the local government employment survey 2005 and shows the amount of people working in local government in England and Wales as at June 2005.

* Includes jobs in construction, libraries, art galleries, museums, leisure, recreation, environmental health, recycling, refuse, cleansing, housing, planning, economic development, engineering and technical services.

** Includes jobs in administration, secretarial services, personnel, management services, central offices’ cleaning and maintenance services, registration of births, deaths and marriages and Best Value services.

Who pays for local government?

Local government in England and Wales is funded by grants from central government (about 48%), business rates (charged to local companies - about 25%) and council tax (charged to local people - also about 25%). The rest comes from sources such as car parks, parking permits and the hire of sports facilities.

Staff in local government often find themselves delivering services on a very tight budget, which requires good financial management skills. The way council money is spent must be closely accounted for as it is constantly held up to public scrutiny.

Are local government, central government and the civil service all the same thing?

Local government is NOT the civil service or central government.

Local government is the collective term for local councils. You may also sometimes hear them referred to as local authorities. Local councils are made up of councillors (members) who are voted for by the public in local elections and council staff (officers) who deliver services.

Note that the civil service and central government are the same.

How does the council work?

Elected representatives (local councillors) from different political parties make up the full council. The council is divided down into individual groups called committees and an executive. The full council is the central decision-maker and debates and decides upon policy based on reports from the committees. The executive is the only group, which is allowed to make decisions - on certain areas of policy - without the approval of the full council.

Scrutiny committees are a fairly new and important addition to the council decision-making process. The councillors on these committees are asked to monitor and review the council’s performance and how it makes its decisions in order to ensure it is accountable to the public.
Although local councillors spend a lot of time carrying out their civic duties, most are unpaid. Often their motivation for becoming a councillor stems from concerns about their local community and a wish to improve the environment and help the people they represent. However, many also have political ambitions that lead them eventually in the direction of national politics.

After decisions have been made by the elected members of the council, paid staff who work to deliver services on a daily basis, implement the policies. They also provide information for council committees recommending possible future policy.

You can find out more information about how local councils work from the Local Government Association and the Local Government Information Unit.