Local government in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is divided into four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The latter three of these now have devolved assemblies, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly, but these are not considered local government.
These three countries consistently use a pattern of unitary authorities meaning there is only a single tier of local government. There are 32 council areas in Scotland, 22 counties and county boroughs in Wales, and 26 districts in Northern Ireland.
The pattern in England is more complex. England has no separate governing body for the whole of it other than that of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is subdivided into 9 regions. One of these, Greater London, has an elected Assembly and Mayor, but the others have a relatively minor role.
Excluding Greater London, England has two different patterns of local government in use. In some areas there is a county council responsible for some services within a county, with several district councils responsible for other services. These councils are elected in separate elections. Councils of counties are called 'X County Council', whereas district councils can be 'District Council', 'Borough Council', or 'City Council' depending upon the status of the district. Some areas have only one level of local government, and these are dubbed unitary authorities. Unitary authorities may be called County Councils, Metropolitan Borough Councils, Borough Councils, City Councils, District Councils, or sometimes just Councils. These names do not change the role or authority of the council.
Below the district level, a district may be divided into several parishes (with all or no land left unparished). Parish councils are responsible for various local responsibilities - their activities vary. Parish councils, when of towns, are called Town Councils, and when of cities are City Councils.
Overall responsibility for issues such as transport in Greater London is vested in the Greater London Authority. London is then divided into 32 London boroughs and the City of London, which have powers between a normal district and a unitary authority. Greater London is entirely unparished.
Councils have historically used a commitee-based system where council functions are excercised by committees of the council. The post of leader is recognised, and leaders typically chair several important committees, but have no special authority beyond that granted to them by their colleagues. In 2000 Parliament passed an act to allow councils to move to an executive-based system, either with the council leader acting as an executive authority, or with a directly-elected mayor.
Local councils are funded by a combination of central grants and Council Tax, a locally set tax based on house value, along with business rates. The proportion of revenue that comes from Council Tax is low, meaning that if a council wishes to increase its funding modestly, it has to put up Council Tax by a large amount. Central government retains the right to 'cap' Council Tax if it deems it to be too much. This is an area of debate in British politics at the moment
There have been reforms in the area recently, see Administrative counties of England for details.England
Councils