Understand how your council works
Types of council
This guide relates to councils in England. Find information about , and .
Many parts of England have 2 tiers of local government:
- county councils
- district, borough or city councils
In some parts of the country, there鈥檚 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鈥檙e 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 鈥榡oint authorities鈥� (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鈥檙e 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