Local Government: Glossary Flashcards
Billing Authority:
The local authority responsible for collecting council tax and uniform business rates (UBR), which are typically district councils in two-tier areas and unitary authorities.
Cabinet System:
A system of council governance where the Leader of the Council or Directly Elected Mayor chooses a small group of councillors (the Cabinet or executive) to make most decisions, often without consulting the majority of councillors.
This system is said to be quicker and more efficient but can be seen as less democratic.
Capital Spending:
Spending by local councils on big building projects such as new schools or housing estates. This is a one-off building cost.
Chief Executive:
The senior officer who leads the entire “paid service” or civil service of a local authority.
Combined Authority:
Groups of neighbouring local authorities that work together on strategic issues, often led by a directly elected metro mayor.
Examples include the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).
Committee System:
A system of council governance where decisions are taken in committees and sub-committees made up of elected councillors, covering each main area of policy, with final approval by the Full Council.
This system involves all councillors in decision-making but can be more time-consuming.
Council Tax:
A property tax with a personal element, based on notional property values from 1991, used to fund local authority services. It is collected by the billing authority.
Councillors (or Members):
Elected political figures who represent their local areas (wards) and decide on policy within the local authority. They are unpaid but can claim allowances.
County (or Shire) Councils:
In a two-tier local authority system, these councils cover a larger area and are responsible for strategic services such as education, social services, transport, libraries, waste disposal, and strategic planning.
Development Control:
The process by which local planning authorities decide whether to approve planning applications for individual developments.
Development Planning:
Long-term planning by local authorities to ensure sufficient houses, roads, schools, factories, and shops to cater for population numbers.
Devolution:
The transfer of powers and funding from central government to devolved authorities, such as combined authorities headed by metro mayors, or to the national governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
It is different from re-organisation, which is how powers and funding are organised between councils.
Directly Elected Mayor (DEM):
A powerful, executive-style local government position introduced by the Local Government Act 2000, with more real power than ceremonial mayors. Examples include the Mayor of London and the Mayor of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
District or Borough Councils:
In a two-tier local authority system, these smaller councils operate within county council areas and are responsible for more local services such as housing, refuse collection, local planning, and council tax collection.
Formula Grants (General Grants):
Government grants for local councils that can be spent as the council sees fit, taking into account population size and relative deprivation. Also known as revenue support grants.
Full Council:
A meeting of all the councillors in a local authority, which gives final approval to policy proposals in a committee system and approves key decisions in a leader and cabinet system.
Leader of the Council:
An elected councillor who is the head of the governing party in a council and often leads the cabinet in a leader and cabinet system.
Local Education Authority (LEA):
The body responsible for running schools and providing some democratic oversight through elected councillors.
Originally county councils, unitary authorities are also LEAs.
The power of LEAs over schools has diminished in recent years with the rise of academies and free schools.
Localism Act 2011:
Legislation that aimed to shift power away from central government and towards local people, giving new freedoms and powers to local government, communities, and individuals, including a ‘general power of competence’.
Metro Mayors:
Directly elected mayors leading combined authorities, with new strategic powers over areas like transport, housing, and planning.
Non-Formula Grants (Grants for Specific Purposes):
Government grants for local councils where central government decides how the money should be used, such as the Dedicated Schools Grant. Also known as passported or hypothecated grants.
Officers:
The paid, politically neutral civil service of the local authority who implement the policies decided by councillors.
Parish Councils (or Town Councils):
The lowest tier of local government, responsible for local amenities like playgrounds, public toilets, and park benches, funded by a parish precept on council taxes.
They have a right to be consulted on major planning applications.
Planning Gain (or Planning Contribution or Section 106 Agreements):
“Sweeteners” offered by developers to the local authority and community, such as building new classrooms or affordable housing, as part of a planning application.
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs):
Directly elected individuals who replaced Police Authorities in 2012, responsible for appointing and dismissing chief constables, directing local policing priorities, and ensuring value for money.
They are funded by a precept on council tax and scrutinised by Police and Crime Panels.
Precepting Authorities:
Authorities like Police and Crime Commissioners, Fire and Rescue Services, County Councils, and Parish Councils that can claim a portion of the council tax collected by the billing authority.
Revenue Spending:
Spending by local councils on the day-to-day running costs of services and projects after they have been built, such as salaries, utility bills, and maintenance.
Scrutiny Committees:
Committees made up of councillors who are not in the cabinet (in a leader and cabinet system) to oversee and scrutinise the decision-making of the cabinet.
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA):
A combined authority consisting of the local authority areas of Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and Barnsley, led by a directly elected metro mayor.
It has extra powers over transport and strategic planning and receives additional funding as part of a devolution deal linked to the Northern Powerhouse.
Two-Tier Local Authorities:
A local government structure where responsibilities are split between county (or shire) councils for strategic services and smaller district or borough councils for more local services.
Unitary Authorities:
Local authorities responsible for all services in their area, combining the functions of both county and district councils. Metropolitan county councils were abolished and replaced by unitary authorities in areas like South Yorkshire.
Wards:
Geographical areas into which local authorities are divided, each represented by one or more councillors.
