Local government structure Flashcards
What do councils do?
Councils provide a wide range of services and perform a regulatory role in the community.
What are the two types of services a council provides?
Personal services-education, housing and social care, others are protective and involve liaison with other bodies such as police, fire, licensing and planning.
Commercial services may include leisure facilities, used to make money for the authority.
What are statutory services?
Statutory services may include examples waste and housing, social care and education.Which council provides these depends on the local government structure in the area.
What is the most common structure for local government?
In most places, these are two tier structure which is a county council and district council. These two authorities would split the service responsibilties between them.
What structure do London and other metropolitan areas share?
London and metropolitan areas operate a single tier council structure. This means the council is responsible for all services.
What are the 5 different types of councils in England?
County council, district council, Metropolitan district, Unitary authorities and London Boroughs
What is a two-tier structure?
-remains in use across large parts of England
- both county and district council are separately elected
What do district councils sometimes have the status of?
District councils sometimes have the status of a city or borough so they are sometimes referred to as a borough council or a city council.
What are the services a county council provides?
The county council provides important strategic services. Such as social services, transport, education, highways, planning, fire and public safety, trading standards and waste management.
What are district/ borough councils responsible for?
District councils are responsible for local services. Rubbish collection, recycling, housing and planning applications.
Where is the overlap with services county and district/ borough councils may provide?
Recreation and leisure
What is a unitary authority?
A unitary council is a single all purpose council. They are mainly in cities, urban areas and larger towns.
What is a hybrid structure?
“Hybrid” structure – in some English counties. some unitary authorities have been set up to serve large towns/cities in areas where the rest of the county falls under the two-tier system. In these cases, unitary and two-tier systems exist side-by-side
What are metropolitan districts/boroughs responsible for?
All services in that area
What is a combined authority?
A combined authority is a legal body which allows two or more councils to join up, collaborate and take collective decisions across their boundaries.
These combined authorities receive additional powers and funding from central government.
-They do not replace existing local authorities.
There are currently 11 combined authorities –
e.g Cambridgeshire
