Types of Council

With the proposed changes in the two tier system in Leicestershire, we thought it would be useful for readers to understand what our local councils currently provide. The information is taken from the governments guide and relates to councils in England.
Many parts of England have two tiers of local government:
? county councils
? district, borough or city councils
In some parts of the country, there’s just one (unitary) tier of local government providing all the local services.
The three main types are:
? Unitary authorities in shire areas
? London boroughs
? metropolitan boroughs
County councils
These are responsible for services across the whole of a county, like:
? education
? transport
? planning
? fire and public safety
? social care
? libraries
? waste management
? trading standards
District, borough and city councils
These cover a smaller area than county councils. They’re usually responsible for services like:
? rubbish collection
? recycling
? Council Tax collections
? housing
? planning applications
In some parts of the country, one tier of local government provides all the local services listed above.
Parish, community and town councils
These operate at a level below district and borough councils and in some cases, unitary authorities.
They are elected and can help on a number of local issues, like providing:
? allotments
? public clocks
? bus shelters
? community centres
? play areas and play equipment
? grants to help local organisations
? consultation on neighbourhood planning
They also have the power to issue fixed penalty fines for things like:
? litter
? graffiti
? fly posting
? dog offences
Looking at annual accounts
Every year councils must open their detailed financial accounts to the public for 30 working days.
This allows you to check any spending under £500 without having to make a freedom of information request.
Your council must publish on its website and in the local press details of when you can check its accounts.