What is the structure of UK Local Government?

Up until the last set of changes made in 1995-1998 there were two models of service provision:

• A) Outside the major urban areas, services were provided by two tiers of councils in England:

  COUNTY COUNCILS each covering a population in a rough range 500,000 - 1,500,000: and
  DISTRICT COUNCILS, between 4-14 within each County Council area, each covering a population about 100,000.

  Local District functions were divided between the two tiers as follows:

  County Councils	District Councils	Divided
  Education Social services Transport Strategic planning Fire services Consumer protection Refuse disposal Smallholdings Libraries	Local planning Housing Local highways Building regulation Environmental health Refuse collection	Recreation Cultural matters

  (Scotland and Wales had similar arrangements but these have now been abolished, of which more later, so the differences are not described here.)

• B) In the major urban areas: London, West Midlands (around Birmingham), Greater Manchester, Merseyside (around Liverpool), South Yorkshire (around Sheffield), West Yorkshire (around Leeds) and Tyne & Wear (around Newcastle-upon-Tyne), as a result of the partial reorganisation in 1986 there was (and still is) a single tier of councils responsible for all the services listed above. These are called LONDON BOROUGH COUNCILS in London and METROPOLITAN DISTRICT COUNCILS in the other areas. In order to avoid total chaos, some functions: Fire, Police, Public Transport: were exercised through Joint Boards to which all the Local Authorities in an area appointed members.

In the 1990s the Central Government's view was that the two tier model of service provision was inefficient and confusing, and that County Councils were too remote from those they served; and therefore that County Councils should be abolished and their functions transferred to District Councils, with some of the smaller Districts being merged.

In Scotland and Wales this is exactly what was done. In England there was a process of local consultation which led to the single tier model being supported, and implemented, in some places and rejected in rather more.

Where single-tier councils have been implemented, they are called UNITARY AUTHORITIES. In the cases of Avon, Berkshire, Cleveland and Humberside all the Districts became Unitaries (with some mergers) and the County Councils were abolished (see also What is a County?). As in the Metropolitan Areas, some functions are now exercised by joint boards appointed by County Councils and the Unitaries which were formerly within their jurisdiction.

At the conclusion of this re-organisation the total count of Principal Authorities stands as follows:

Two tier structure
County Councils		34
District Councils		238
All-Purpose Authorities
London Boroughs	32	170
Corporation of London	1
Metropolitan Districts	36
English Unitary Authorities	46
Isles of Scilly	1
Scottish Unitary Authorities	32
Welsh Unitary Authorities	22
England Wales & Scotland Total		442
Northern Ireland District Councils		26
Grand Total		468

(Northern Ireland District Councils are Unitary Authorities but perform a narrower range of functions. The sectarian problems in the province have meant that potentially sensitive functions were reserved by central government: some have now been transferred to the Northern Ireland Executive. The Council of the Isles of Scilly was already a Unitary Authority; and the Corporation of London, which covers only a very small area of "London" as normally understood, is a Quaint British Tradition [TM]).

PARISH and TOWN COUNCILS in England cover areas smaller than Districts (up to 30,000 population but usually much less). They have very limited responsibilities for local services and environmental improvements, and do not exist in large towns and cities. There is no difference in powers between PARISH and TOWN councils - the distinction is just that TOWN councils cover areas which are more highly urban than PARISH ones. COMMUNITY COUNCILS in Wales are similar bodies; those in Scotland have no statutory functions. Very small parishes may not have an elected council, in which case decisions are taken by open PARISH MEETINGS. At the last count there were 10376 parishes in England, 867 communities in Wales and about 1200 in Scotland.

CITY and BOROUGH are titles of honour which do not affect the functions of a local authority. The titles may be conferred by a Royal Charter, which is generally done for a very large and important town (note, though, that this has been going on for about 700 years and towns which were important then may not be so important now) but in some cases the term City seems to be traditional usage whose origin is lost in the mists of time. In particular it is generally used of any town containing a Cathedral. The various reorganisations have led in some cases to the title of City being applied to a Town Council (which can be thoroughly confusing where it has the same name as a District which covers a larger area!) but more often it is applied to a District. The title of Borough is only applied to Districts.

In Wales the terms County Council or County Borough Council are titles of honour referring to the status which areas had before the 1973 re-organisations. They are all actully Unitary Authorities.

Central Government responsibility and financial support for Local Government in England now falls to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; in Scotland to the Scottish Executive; in Wales to the Welsh Assembly Local Government Group; in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive: Department of the Environment

COUNCILLORS represent geographical WARDS (called ELECTORAL DIVISIONS in County Councils) and serve for four years before needing to seek re-election. A ward may represented by 1, 2 or 3 councillors. County Councils, London Boroughs, and Scottish and Welsh Unitaries elect all their councillors at once, every 4 years; Metropolitan Districts elect one-third of their councillors in each of the 3 years out of 4 which are not County Election years; English Unitaries and second-tier Districts were given the choice of the two methods: 18 out of the 46 Unitiaries and 88 of the 238 Districts elect by thirds.

ELECTIONS are always held by the plurality ("first-past-the-post") method even when 3 councillors for a ward are being elected at once. About 88% of councilors (Excluding Northern Ireland) stood on behalf of one of the three main British Parties; most of the rest proffess to be "Independent".

Until recently, most council decisions were taken by COMMITTEES appointed from within the Council, with only the most important decisions being taken by the entire Council. There are rules to ensure that the political composition of the committees reflects that of the whole Council. The Local Government Act 2000 has changed this, in all but the smallest districts, to a system where decisions are taken by one of a few CABINET or EXECUTIVE COUNCILLORS with the committees reduced to an advisory or SCRUTINY role.

This is accompanied by a change in the role of MAYOR. In the past, the MAYOR of a Borough or City (or LORD MAYOR in the largest cities) has been appointed by the council from among its own members and combined the role of Chair of Council Meetings with a ceremonial role as "First Citizen". There is now provision for councils to have a directly ELECTED MAYOR responsible for most decisions in assocation with a small CABINET of Councillors.

More information on the structure of UK Local Government from Office of National Statistics

Thanks to Prof. Justin Frosini who asked the series of questions which this page attempts to answer
Return to Keith Edkins Local Government Guide