This guide relates to councils in England. Find information about councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Many parts of England have 2 tiers of local government:

• county councils
• district, borough or city councils

In some parts of the country, there's just 1 (unitary) tier of local government providing all the local services. The 3 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

Unitary authorities and London and metropolitan boroughs

In some parts of the country, 1 tier of local government provides all the local services listed above.

In London and metropolitan areas some services, like fire, police and public transport, are provided through 'joint authorities' (in London by the Greater London Authority).

Parish, community and town councils

These operate at a level below district and borough councils and in some cases, unitary authorities.

They’re 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

The full council (a meeting of all council members) is responsible for all decisions. But in practice, most of the work is given to smaller groups of councillors or council officers (paid staff).

Every council must publish:

• details of when key decisions will be taken
• papers of meetings – at least 5 working days beforehand
• minutes of meetings – showing the decisions that were made

You can view council meeting agendas, minutes and reports on your council’s website.

You can also attend most council meetings, although usually you won't be able to speak at them.

Mayors

Many councils have a civic mayor or chairman of the council. They carry out ceremonial duties and chair meetings, but can’t make decisions about council business.

Some councils have an elected mayor. They’re responsible for the day-to-day running of local services.

Councils can have both elected and civic mayors.

Many local councils provide information on their websites to show how they spend their budget.

You can view details of:

• payments for goods and services over £500
• contracts and tenders over £500

Looking at annual accounts

Every year councils must open their detailed financial accounts to the public for 20 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.

Local councillors are elected for 4-year terms by the local community to represent its views.

You can contact your local councillor online or by going to an advice surgery.

When local elections are held

Elections to councils are normally held on the first Thursday in May.

Some councils elect all of their councillors at the same time. Other councils elect half or a third of their councillors at each election. Read about the election timetable in England.

You can find out more about local council elections from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

Declaring interests

All local councillors have to declare any interests, gifts or hospitality they get that could influence decisions they make.

Your local council must publish details of these. You can usually access them on your council's website or at the town hall.

If you feel that a council service hasn't been properly delivered, you can make an official complaint.

1. Complain to the council service provider.

2. If you're still not happy, complain to your council's complaints officer.

3. If this doesn't resolve the issue, you may be able to get the Local Government Ombudsman to look into it.

The Ombudsman considers complaints if you've suffered because of:

• the way a council service has been given
• how a decision has been made

The Ombudsman usually only considers your complaint once it’s been through your local council's complaints procedure.

Local Government Ombudsman
Telephone: 0300 061 0614
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