What is a council? A tier of local government A large, geographically-defined, multi-functional organisation Provides local services to local people – mandatory and discretionary Has limited tax raising powers Is a democratically-elected organisation – in other words, councils are political 465 in total: 388 in England; 22 Wales; 29 Scotland; 26 Northern Ireland

Local government – big business Councils provide more than 700 different functions & services Employ 2.5million people in 400 different occupations (Tesco – 472,000 worldwide) Big spenders - £165billion in 2009/10 – a quarter of all public revenue expenditure If ranked by expenditure, 100 councils would rank along side 500 top companies 22,000 elected councillors – but only 650 MPs

Spending our money Education: £48bn Social care: £22bn Roads: £7bn Leisure: £11bn Housing: £3.6bn England+Wales budget estimates 2010-11

Why is it important? Democratically-elected institutions – our political representatives at local level Spend large sums of public money Councillors decide and therefore have direct impact on key frontline services Media has key role holding councils to account, scrutinising and challenging – checks and balances

Who controls our town halls? Conservatives: 201 councils+9,265 councillors Labour: 51 councils+4,487 councillors Lib Dems: 25 councils+3,772 councillors Others: 9 councils+1,965 councillors No overall control in 87 councils

All these are known as “principal local authorities” Types of council County councils District/borough councils Unitary councils Metropolitan councils London boroughs All these are known as “principal local authorities”

County councils: (34 in England) What do they do? County councils: (34 in England) Education: schools; youth service; adult education; under-fives Social services: children’s services + adult services Waste disposal Highways and transport: roads, pavements, bridges…even airports Strategic land use planning Trading standards (consumer protection) Libraries, galleries, museums, the arts Counties operate with districts in what are called “two tier” areas

District/borough councils Local planning (applications) Waste collection Housing (inc. homeless; some social housing) On-street parking Environmental health Leisure facilities and culture: sports centres; parks; playing fields Registering births,deaths and marriages Collecting council tax (and sending out bills) Electoral registration Some may do work for counties under voluntary agreements – eg road maintenance and repairs

Criticisms of two-tier* system Perceived remoteness of county councils – particularly those covering large areas Not easily understood by the public, who are confused about who does what Serve diverse communities with disparate needs (eg coastal towns and urban conurbations) Poor economies of scale – costly having two tiers of local government * Areas with county councils (top tier) and district/borough councils (second tier)

Unitary councils Bring together all services (county + district) Created to simplify structures First set up in 1990s Elections every four years “Hybrid” structure in some areas: some unitaries exist within existing county boundaries (eg Kent)

Most recent unitaries… Seven created in 2009: Cheshire*, Bedfordshire*, Cornwall, Northumberland, Durham, Shropshire and Wiltshire Replaced 44 districts and counties, saving £100million Affected 3.2million residents But coalition stopped creation of others in 2010

Unitaries…the pluses Generally better understood by residents – one council for all services Less complex in terms of decision-making Provide better sense of “community identity” – better defined geographical area; less remote More financially efficient (?)

Metropolitan councils 36 – covering main English cities (Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield) Effectively operate as unitary authorities Elect third of councillors every year Have ‘joint boards’ to oversee some services, eg transport, emergency services, waste

Parish and town councils Limited range of functions and powers For example: Bus shelters; footpaths; extra street lighting; public toilets;cemeteries; community halls By law, have right to comment on planning applications in area Can levy a precept to pay for services

Councillors Are the politically-elected representatives on councils Decide on policy and take decisions on services and spending Represent local wards or “divisions” – similar to MPs’ constituencies Provide community leadership for area Represent, be accountable for and act as advocate for their electors

Councillors – old, white, male and irrelevant? Male – 73 per cent White – 97 per cent Average age – 57 Retired – 35 per cent Private sector employed – 60 per cent

Councillors 13 per cent have children under age of 16 50 per cent have a degree or higher qualification More women councillors than MPs More women councillors than senior officers Most spend an average 20 hours work a week on council business Represent average of 3,020 constituents (France 118; Holland 1,713)

But they are important… Our democratically-elected representatives Often wield more power than MPs Take decisions on important services, the local economy and our money Offer community and strategic leadership Take up residents’ concerns Have a watchdog role Paid out of the public purse (allowances)

The role of councillors Executive councillors: Legal ability to make certain decisions, collectively or individually Non-executive councillors: No decision-making powers but hold executive (cabinet to account) – a watchdog role All councillors are: Residents’ advocates Community advocates Policy advocates

Council officers Paid, professional employees – unlike councillors, are not elected and are politically neutral Deliver services in line with politicians’ priorities and budget (like local civil servants) Responsible to the council rather than electorate Senior officers can receive large salaries Cabinet govt. means senior officers much closer to ruling political administration

Key senior officers The Chief Executive – head of paid service – most senior official The Chief Financial Officer (finance director) The Monitoring Officer Director of Children’s Services Most councils have a corporate board made up of senior officers

The Chief Executive Paid officer who heads the executive of the council, leads chief officers management team and advises councillors Ensures council policy is implemented and will advise councillors of legality and feasibility of their policies/plans May be the returning officer at election time Is a politically-restricted post Can often be highly paid – six-figure salaries!

Mayors Ceremonial figure-head for a council No real powers Chairs meetings of the full council Represents council at civic functions Usually wears chains of office London and some cities have Lord Mayors (but do same job) Elected by fellow councillors each year Known as “chairmen” in county councils