Who leads a Council or Unitary Authority?
The leader of the council is usually chosen by the political party that wins the most votes in the local election. There are now 12 directly elected mayors in England but in most regions the office of mayor is largely a ceremonial role and the mayor doesn’t hold any real power. What powers do Councils have? Local government has various responsibilities depending on the type of council involved. District Councils are responsible for leisure, environmental health, housing — including the provision of social housing, rubbish collection, and local roads. County Councils are responsible for more strategic services such as education, libraries, main roads, social services, trading standards and transport. Unitary authorities exercise all these functions. In addition to this, two or more councils sometimes team up when they are too small individually to run an important service efficiently. They create a joint-board, with members of different councils making a committee. Joint-boards will typ
Related Questions
- Would the reduction of Council and the line item veto authority cause the Legislative and Executive Branches the ability to work together in true cooperation on budgetary matters?
- Who will have the ultimate power over education within a community, Chief and Council or the Community Education Authority?
- As between the Council and the Mayor, who has supervisory authority over the department heads?
