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UK General Elections in England |
Local government in England broadly consists of three layers: civil parishes, local authorities, and regional authorities. Every part of England is governed by at least one local authority, but parish councils and regional authorities do not exist everywhere. In addition, there are 31police and crime commissioners, fourpolice, fire and crime commissioners, and tennational park authorities with local government responsibilities.[1][2] Local government is not standardised across the country, with the last comprehensive reform taking placein 1974.
Local authorities cover the entirety of England, and are responsible for services such as education, transport, planning applications, and waste collection and disposal. In two-tier areas anon-metropolitan county council and two or morenon-metropolitan district councils share responsibility for these services. In single-tier areas aunitary authority,London borough, ormetropolitan borough provides all services. TheCity of London andIsles of Scilly have unique local authorities.
Some local authorities collaborate through regional authorities.Combined authorities arestatutory bodies which allow two or more local authorities to voluntarily pool responsibilities and negotiate adevolution deal with theUK Government for the area they cover, giving it powers beyond those typically held by a local authority. InGreater London, theGreater London Authority (GLA) has responsibility for transport, policing, fire and rescue, development and strategic planning.
Civil parishes are the lowest tier of local government, and primarily exist in rural and smaller urban areas. The responsibilities of parish councils are limited and generally consist of providing and maintaining public spaces and facilities.
Local authorities are consideredstatutory corporations and have no authority to act other than where they have been explicitly allowed by law.[3] However, since theLocalism Act 2011, local authorities have had ageneral power of competence meaning that 'a local authority has power to do anything that individuals generally may do.'[4]
At a time when most parish affairs were dealt with byvestries, theVestries Act 1831 and theMetropolis Management Act 1855 sought to establish the principle of vestries being elected byratepayers, both men and women.
Before theLocal Government Act 1888, most local government functions in England were carried out by parish vestries,Boards of Guardians, which operated workhouses and former poor law functions; electedschool boards, created by theElementary Education Act 1870, and the unelected county courts ofquarter sessions.[5] The Act of 1888 createdcounty councils, consisting of councillors, directly elected by electors, andaldermen, chosen by the councillors. There was to be one county alderman for every three councillors (but only one for every six in the newLondon County Council).[6] The first elections to the councils were held in January 1889, and on 1 April they came into their powers, most of which were taken over from the quarter sessions.[7][8] Elections of all councillors and half of the aldermen took place every three years thereafter. The councils' areas were designated asadministrative counties. The county councils did not cover the whole country. The larger towns and some historiccounties corporate were designated ascounty boroughs by the same act of 1888. The new system was a major modernisation, which reflected the increasing range of functions carried out by local government in lateVictorian Britain. An accretion of powers took place when education was added to county council responsibilities in 1902.[9] County councils were responsible for the more strategic services in a county or county borough.
TheLocal Government Act 1894 createdparish councils, which replaced the vestries, and alsourban district councils andrural district councils, responsible mostly for sanitation and locally-maintained highways.
TheLondon Government Act 1899 created 28Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, replacing a larger number ofvestries and district boards.[10]
TheLocal Government Act 1929 increased the powers of county councils, which took over from the Boards of Guardians, which were abolished. County councils also took charge of highways in rural districts.[11]
TheLondon Government Act 1963 abolished, with effect from 1965, theLondon County Council andMiddlesex County Council, creating theGreater London Council to replace them.[12] The London Government Act 1963 also established 32 London borough councils.[13]
In 1964, as recommended by theLocal Government Commission for England, two pairs of administrative counties were merged to becomeCambridgeshire and Isle of Ely andHuntingdon and Peterborough.[14]
TheLocal Government Act 1972 completely reorganised local authorities in England and Wales. In the six largest conurbations,metropolitan county councils, with increased powers, were created. Aldermen were abolished, and all councillors were to be elected every four years. Outside Greater London and theIsles of Scilly, the Local Government Act 1972 divided England intometropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, which would have one county council and multiple district councils each.[15] That meant that each area would be covered by two tiers of local authorities - both a county council and a district council, which would share local authority functions.[16]
The Greater London Council was abolished by theLocal Government Act 1985.[17] In 1986 the six metropolitan county councils were abolished, with their functions transferred to themetropolitan boroughs and joint boards.[18]
TheLocal Government Act 1992 established a newLocal Government Commission, to review of the structure of local administration, and the introduction of some unitary authorities. The number of county councils was reduced: The counties ofAvon,Berkshire,Cleveland,Hereford and Worcester, andHumberside were abolished, whileWorcestershire County Council was re-established. TheIsle of Wight County Council became a unitary authority, renamed as the "Isle of Wight Council".[19]
In May 2022, 21 non-metropolitan county councils and 164 non-metropolitan district councils remain.[16] These are better known as simply county councils and district councils. While the metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1985,[17] 36 metropolitan district councils still survive, as of May 2022.[16]
There are 317 local authorities (not counting parish councils) covering the whole of England.[16] There are five main types of local authorities:London borough councils, two-tiercounty anddistrict councils,metropolitan district councils andunitary authorities.[16] Some local authorities haveborough,city orroyal borough status, but this is purely stylistic.[20]
All local authorities are made up ofcouncillors, who represent geographicalwards and divisions.[21] There are 7,026 wards as of December 2021.[22] Local authorities run on four year cycles and councillors may be elected all at once, by halves or by thirds;[16] although the Electoral Commission has recommended that all authorities use whole council elections every 4 years.[23]Local authorities have a choice ofexecutive arrangements under theLocal Government Act 2000: mayor and cabinet executive, leader and cabinet executive, a committee system or bespoke arrangements approved by the Secretary of State.[16] As of April 2023, just 15 local authorities havedirectly-elected mayors.[24] Some functions are just the responsibility of the executive of a local authority,[25] but local authorities must also have at least oneoverview and scrutiny committee to hold the executive to account.[26]
There are now (as of April 2023) 62 unitary authorities.[16] These carry out the functions of both county and district councils and have replaced two-tier local government in some areas.[27] The creation of these first became possible under theLocal Government Act 1992,[28] but now takes place under theLocal Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.[29]
In the 2023/24 financial year, 33% of budgeted service expenditure across local government as a whole is set to be oneducation, 19% on adultsocial care, 13% onpolice, 11% on children's social care and 24% on all other services.[30]
Notably,Cornwall Council has been subject to a devolution deal, which are usually reserved to combined authorities for additional functions and funding.[31] And, like some combined authorities and parish councils, local authorities do have ageneral power of competence.[32] Separate to combined authorities, two or more local authorities can also work together through joint boards (for legally-required services: fire, public transport and waste disposal), joint committees (voluntarily) or through contracting out and agency arrangements.[33]
Greater London includes thesui generisCity of London Corporation[16] and theliberties of theMiddle Temple and theInner Temple.[34] The othersui generis local authority in England is theCouncil of the Isles of Scilly.[16]
TheGreater London Authority Act 1999 established aMayor of London and 25-memberLondon Assembly.[35] The firstmayoral andassembly elections took place in 2000.[36] The formerLeader of the Greater London Council,Ken Livingstone, served as the inaugural Mayor, until he was defeated by futurePrime MinisterBoris Johnson in2008.[36] The incumbent,Sadiq Khan, was first elected in2016.[36]
The Mayor's functions include chairingTransport for London,[37] holding theCommissioner of the Metropolitan Police andLondon Fire Commissioner to account[38] and keeping strategies up to date, including theLondon Plan.[39] Meanwhile, it is the Assembly's role to regularly hold the Mayor and their key advisers to account and it can also amend the budget or a strategy by a two-thirds majority, though this has not ever happened as of March 2022.[36]
Combined authorities can be created at the request of two or more local authorities.[40] Combined authorities do not replace the local authorities in question, but can receive separate functions and funding.[16] As of May 2022, there are 10 combined authorities covering some of England.[16] TheSecretary of State was first granted the power to create combined authorities by theLocal Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.[41]
TheCities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 gave the Secretary of State the power to provide for adirectly-elected combined authority mayor.[42] And, as of May 2022, nine out of the 10 combined authorities have mayors, includingAndy Burnham inGreater Manchester andAndy Street in theWest Midlands.[24] In the2024 local elections, new Combined Authorities were elected; they were the newYork and North Yorkshire Combined Authority,North East Mayoral Combined Authority,East Midlands Combined County Authority. They are all controlled by the Labour Party as of 2024 except forTees Valley.[43]
Each combined authority's executive consists of a representative from each of its constituent local authorities, plus (if applicable) the mayor.[40] Functions can be devolved directly to the mayor, to the combined authority as a whole, or have a different decision-making requirement.[40] The budget and functions of each combined authority can be vastly different, but possible functions include responsibility for the relevantpolice force and/orfire brigade,bus franchising and spatial strategy.[44]
Parish councils form the lowest tier of local government and have some local functions in theircivil parishes. They may also be called a 'community council', 'neighbourhood council', 'village council', 'town council' or (if the parish holds city status) 'city council', but these names are stylistic and do not change their responsibilities.[45][46] As of December 2021 there are 10,475 parishes in England, but they do not cover the whole of the country as many urban parishes were abolished in 1974.[47]
The only specific statutory function of parish councils, which they must do, is establishingallotments. However, there are a number of other functions given by powers in the relevant legislation, which they can do, such as providinglitter bins and buildingbus shelters.[48] Their statutory functions are few, but they may provide other services with the agreement of the relevant local authorities,[16] and under theLocalism Act 2011 eligible parish councils can be granted a "general power of competence" (GPC) which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law.[49] To be eligible for this a parish council must meet certain conditions of quality.[50]
Civil parishes developed in the nineteenth century, based on theChurch of England's parishes, which had both ecclesiastical and local government functions; parish councils were created by theLocal Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), replacing the previousvestries.[51] The ecclesiastical parishes continue to exist, but neither they nor theirparochial church councils now have any local government role.[52]
| Type | Notes | Example(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Civil parish council | Lowest level of local government.[53] | Newbald Parish Council,Arlesey Parish Council,Handforth Town Council |
| The only specific statutory function of parish councils, which they must do, is establishingallotments. However, there are a number of other functions given by powers in the relevant legislation, which they can do, such as providinglitter bins and buildingbus shelters.[54] According to theLocalism Act 2011 eligible parish councils can be granted "general power of competence" (GPC) which allows them, within certain limits, the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it is not prohibited by other legislation.[53] | ||
| Non-metropolitan district / borough council in a two-tier system | Type of local authority. Lower-tier of a two-tier system.[55] | Epping Forest District council,Gosport Borough Council,Woking Borough Council |
| Responsible forlocal planning andbuilding control, local roads,council housing,environmental health,markets and fairs,refuse collection andrecycling,cemeteries andcrematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism in a two-tier system.[55] | ||
| County council in a two-tier system | Type of local authority. Upper-tier of a two-tier system.[55] | Oxfordshire County Council,Nottinghamshire County Council |
| Responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such aseducation,social services,libraries, main roads, public transport,fire services,Trading Standards,waste disposal and strategic planning in a two-tier system.[55] | ||
| Metropolitan district / borough council | Type of local authority. De facto unitary authorities since abolition ofmetropolitan county councils.[56] | StockportMetropolitan Borough Council,Newcastle City Council,Sheffield City Council |
| Metropolitan district or borough councils were originally part of a two-tier system with metropolitan county councils. They differed fromnon-metropolitan districts / boroughs in the division of powers between district and county councils. Metropolitan district or borough councils werelocal education authorities, and were also responsible forsocial services andlibraries. Metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986 and most of their functions were devolved to the metropolitan boroughs making themunitary authorities in all but name.[56] | ||
| Unitary authority | Type of local authority. | Plymouth City Council,Durham County Council,North Somerset Council,Slough Borough Council |
| Unitary authorities combine the powers and functions that are normally delivered separately by the councils of non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts.[57][58] | ||
| Combined authority | Combined authorities assume the role of anintegrated transport authority andeconomic prosperity board on behalf of its member local authorities.[59] | Greater Manchester Combined Authority,Tees Valley Combined Authority |
| Combined authorities are created voluntarily and allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain delegated functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area.[59] | ||
| London borough council | Type of local authority in London only. | Tower Hamlets London Borough Council |
| The London boroughs are administered by London borough councils (sometimes abbreviated LBCs), which are elected every four years. They are the principal local authorities in London and are responsible for running most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection and roads. Some London-wide services are run by theGreater London Authority, and some services and lobbying of government are pooled withinLondon Councils. Some councils group together for services such aswaste collection and disposal. The boroughs arelocal government districts and have similar functions tometropolitan boroughs. Each borough council is alocal education authority.[60] | ||
| Greater London Authority (GLA) | London only. | Greater London Authority |
| The GLA has responsibility for transport, policing, fire and rescue, development and strategic planning. The GLA does not directly provide any services itself. Instead, its work is carried out by functional bodies which, together with the GLA itself, form the GLA Group and work under the policy direction of the mayor and assembly.[61][62][63] | ||
| Police and crime commissioner (PCC) | Replacedpolice authorities.[64] Some combined and regional authorities may assume responsibility for policing, e.g.South Yorkshire.[65][66] | Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner |
| PCCs are responsible for ensuring an effective police force within their area, and to hold thechief constable to account for the delivery of the police and crime plan. Police and crime commissioners are hold the police fund (from which all policing of the area is financed) and are able to raise the local policingprecept fromcouncil tax. Police and crime commissioners are also responsible for the appointment, suspension and dismissal of the Chief Constable.[64] | ||
| Police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) | Replaced police authorities andfire authorities. Some combined and regional authorities may assume responsibility for policing, e.g.Greater Manchester.[65] | Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner |
| Same as PCC, with additional responsibility forFire and Rescue.[65] | ||
| National park authority | Established by theEnvironment Act 1995.[67] | Peak District National Park Authority |
| Responsible for maintenance of a national park.[67] | ||
| Development corporation | Middlesbrough Development Corporation | |
| Holds planning powers over a specific area and is awarded funding for urban regeneration.[68][69][70] | ||
| City of London Corporation | ||
| Sui generis body for theCity of London.[58] | ||
| Council of the Isles of Scilly | ||
| Sui generis body for theIsles of Scilly.[71][72][58] | ||
| Governing Benchers of the Inn | ||
| Sui generis body for theInner Temple. | ||
| Parliament of the Middle Temple | ||
| Sui generis body for theMiddle Temple. | ||
In England, local authorities have three main sources of funding:UK Government grants,council tax andbusiness rates.[73] In the financial year 2019/20, local authorities received 22% of their funding from grants, 52% from council tax and 27% from retained business rates.[73] In the financial year 2023/24, 51% of revenue expenditure is expected to come from UK Government grants, 31% from council tax and 15% from retained business rates.[30]
Local government can also receive some money from fees and charges for the use of services, returns and interest frominvestments, commercial income,fixed penalty notices and capital receipts.[74] TheInformation Commissioner's Office has ruled that there is apublic interest in disclosing information about local government investments which will generally outweigh any concerns about whether disclosure could affect an investment's performance or be protected byconfidentiality requirements.[75]
Local authorities cannot borrow money to finance day-to-day spending and so must rely on yearly income or reserves for this type of expenditure, although they can borrow to fund capital expenditure.[73][74]
Local government in England as a whole has limited revenue-raising powers compared to otherG7 countries.[73]
In the 20th century, local authorities found that the costs of providing services exceeded the revenues raised from local taxes and so grants from the UK Government (specifically theTreasury) gradually increased.[74] However, UK Government grants were cut by 40% in real terms between the financial years 2009/10 and 2019/20, although grant income did grow due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[73]
Local government receives two types of grants: the Revenue Support Grant, which can be spent on any service according to the wishes of the local government body in question, and specific grants, which are usually 'ring fenced' to specifically defined service areas.[74]
Council tax was introduced in 1993 to replace the 'poll tax'.[74] It is a domestic property tax, based on eight bands (A to H) depending on the value of the property on 1 April 1991.[74] Various discounts are set out in law and exist at the discretion of billing authorities.[74]
On a yearly basis, local government bodies review and consider whether to increase or decrease the level of council tax to fund their spending plans.[74] The level at which a local authority can increase council tax each year without holding a localreferendum is regulated by theLocalism Act 2011.[76][74] In every area, one local authority acts as the billing authority (the district council in two-tier areas), which prepares and collects council tax bills.[74] Other parts of local government (like county councils in two-tier areas, police and crime commissioners, fire authorities, parish councils and combined authorities) act as precepting authorities, which notify the relevant billing authority of their decision on council tax and later receive this money from the billing authority.[74]
Between financial years 2009/10 and 2021/22, council tax rates increased by 30% in real terms, in light of reduced grants from the UK Government.[73]
Business rates is a tax on business premises.[74] It is based on the rateable value of the premises (set by theValuation Office Agency) and a business rate multiplier.[74] It is set and collected by billing authorities.[74]
Reforms in 2013 now mean that local authorities keep 50% of business rate revenues raised locally.[73] The UK Government then distributes the remaining 50% of business rate revenues according to its own judgement.[73] It was initially planned to increase the proportion of business rates that local authorities retain to 100%, but this was indefinitely delayed in 2021.[73]
In 2022, thePublic Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee said that it had "significant concerns about the current governance arrangements for England":[77]
If the people within government are unsure at times where powers and responsibility, and hence accountability, rest, this lack of clarity is magnified for individuals who have little knowledge or experience of the structures. This has the potential to leave individuals less likely to be able to access what they need from government, leaving them often unable to know who is responsible, and as a result are not properly able to hold their democratic representatives to account.[77]
The Committee also said that "[t]he evidence is clear both practically and democratically that the overly centralised arrangements of government in England are problematic" and that reform was also needed of funding structures.[77]
As of March 2025, the various combined authorities, county, district, and sui generis councils formed an administrative hierarchy as shown in the table below. Unitary authorities are legally either district councils which also perform county functions or county councils which also perform district functions; they therefore straddle the county and district columns. Metropolitan districts and London boroughs are also shown straddling the county and district columns. In much of the country there is also a lower tier ofcivil parishes.[78] This administrative hierarchy differs from theceremonial hierarchy.
