Local Councils

Councils are responsible for providing local services and facilities. Your elected representatives, or councillors, also represent you at a local level. This is known as local government. Depending on where you live, your council is responsible for some or all of the following areas:

• Council housing
• Education services
• Electoral registration
• Environmental health
• Leisure and recreation facilities
• Libraries
• Local planning
• Local transport
• Parks and public places
• Regulation of local business
• Roads and footpaths
• Social services
• Waste and recycling

What type of council do I have?

There are different types of council in the UK and the type of council you have depends on where you live.

If you live in London or in one of the larger cities of England, you will have a London Borough or Metropolitan District Council (MDC). MDCs cover places like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. These councils provide all local services.

If you live in Scotland or Wales, you will have a unitary authority. There are also unitary authorities in some medium-sized towns and cities in England, like Reading or Nottingham. These councils also provide all local services, but may cover a wider area, for example Bath and North East Somerset. In Northern Ireland, there are local councils, but most services are carried out by other organisations. To find out more about local councils in Northern Ireland, visit the Northern Ireland Local Government Association website.

In some rural or semi-rural parts of England, local government is split between a county council and a district council. County councils cover large areas, like Devon or Kent, and provide about 80 per cent of services for that area. District councils cover smaller areas and provide more locally based services.

Below is a list of what each type of council does:

In England, some towns and London boroughs also have their own directly elected mayor. There are mayors in: Bedford, Doncaster, Hackney, Hartlepool, Lewisham, Mansfield, Middlesbrough, Newham, North Tyneside, Stoke on Trent and Watford.

As well as local councils, the UK also has around 10,000 parish, town and community councils. These form the most local level of local government. Parish councils in England and community councils in Scotland and Wales are responsible for things like: allotments, bus shelters, car parks, public toilets, cemeteries, footpath lighting, litter bins, local halls and community centres, parks and public ponds, public clocks and war memorials.

You can find out if you live in an area with a parish, town or community council in England from the website of the National Association of Local Councils. In Scotland, information is available from the Association of Scottish Community Councils website, and in Wales from the One Voice Wales website.

How are they elected?

When you vote in a local election, you will receive a ballot paper listing all the candidates standing to be a councillor in your area. You may be asked to vote for more than one candidate depending on where you live. In Scotland and Northern Ireland you will be asked to rank the candidates, 1,2,3... in order of preference.

You can vote in person at a polling station or apply to vote by post or proxy.

When are they elected?

Each councillor is elected for four years, but when you have an opportunity to elect them depends on the type of council you have in your area and what voting method it uses. If your council votes by thirds, this means that a third of councillors are elected every year over a four year cycle (with no elections in the fourth year). If your council elects by halves, half of councillors are elected every two years. Other local authorities, such as the London boroughs, elect all of their councillors every four years.

Whatever method your local authority uses, you will be able to vote in local elections at least once every four years. To find out if there is a local election coming up in your area, go to the elections page.