Local Government

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 - £169billion in 2013/14 – a quarter of all public revenue expenditure If ranked by expenditure, 100 councils would rank along side 500 top companies 22,000 elected local councillors – but only 650 MPs Only Walmart, Chinese People’s Liberation Front+Indian railways employ more than local government in UK

The media perspective…

Under pressure – councils suffering severe budget cuts under government austerity programme – 28% cut over four years

How councils spend your money £98.8bn in £102.2bn in A decrease….but reflects changes in education funding by government

Why are councils important? Democratically-elected institutions – our political representatives at local level Spend large sums of public money – equivalent to average £1,000 per resident annually 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: 163 councils Labour: 74 councils Lib Dems: 4 councils UKIP – 1 (Thanet) No overall control: 87 After May 2015 elections

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

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

District/borough councils Planning applications (for development) 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)

Advantages of two-tier system More accountability (more councillors) Districts/boroughs closer to communities they serve Separation of services means councils not overloaded Better understood by residents?

Unitary councils Bring together all services (county + district) Created to simplify structures First set up in 1990s “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 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 – eg waste collection/disposal

Unitaries...back on the agenda? Devolution agenda – “Northern powerhouse” Councils urged to find new ways of working together to save money Government invited bids from councils to join forces to deliver services – including housing, transport Some plans involve councils taking charge of social care and NHS budgets

Dorset “super council” plan Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and East Dorset - propose combining to form single authority (unitary) £1bn annual budget Partly driven by budget challenges Would be 8 th largest authority in country Government will have final say Bournemouth + Poole already unitaries

Northern Powerhouse Combines Manchester and nine other councils in Greater Manchester with population of 15m Have been given control over transport budget + a £300m investment fund Control over £6bn health and social care budget £110m arts theatre “The Factory”

Northern Powerhouse ii Government has insisted on having directly-elected mayor for Greater Manchester (vote likely in 2017) Stand in Mayor currently MP Tony Lloyd Why? Rebalance the UK economy Attract new investment

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

London Boroughs 33 – effectively act as unitary authorities Also: GLA/Boris Johnson provides London-wide government, including: Policing Transport Strategic planning Fire

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 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