Structure of local government — overview

There are two main models of how principal authorities are organised, one-tier and two-tier systems. There have been several reforms leading to different arrangements in different areas.

Across much of England there are two-tier systems: a county council and a district council. Its larger towns and cities, however, generally have one tier: a unitary or metropolitan council.

Some local councils share services covering a wider area, such as police, fire services or public transport, usually for efficiency reasons or to avoid splitting them up when council structures are changed.

Executive arrangements

Local authorities work under political management arrangements introduced by legislation in 2000 and 2007. The new constitutions aim to deliver identifiable, accountable, corporate leadership for local authorities and provide efficient, transparent and accountable decision-making.

The options are an:

• elected mayor and cabinet

• elected leader and cabinet

Members

Council members for a principal area are elected by the local government electors for that area. To qualify to serve as a councillor, a person must meet a number of requirements relating to citizenship, age and residency. Certain convictions and bankruptcy also disqualify persons from becoming members.

In addition, certain positions disqualify employees from becoming members for political reasons and, conversely, a person cannot be appointed as an officer of a local authority while they are a member of that authority.

Each local authority must establish a Members’ Allowances Scheme and has a discretion as to the form and amount of its scheme of allowances (save for travel allowances).

Each authority must keep a record of allowances paid under its scheme and maintain an independent remuneration panel to recommend the level of basic allowance for all members.

Meetings

Meetings are of fundamental importance to the running of local government. It is essential that local authorities adhere to their own procedures, as failure to do so could give rise to judicial challenge.

The manner in which meetings are used to conduct business is largely a matter for each local authority, but there are some meetings that they must hold. Meetings of a principal council must be open to the public.

All matters to be considered by a local authority must be decided by a majority of the members of the authority present and voting at the meeting. Provision of a casting vote, if all votes are equal, is intended to avoid deadlock.

Monitoring officer

Local authorities are heavily scrutinised both internally, by the monitoring officer, and externally by the Local Government Ombudsman.

The monitoring officer was introduced as a key part of the new executive arrangements in order to achieve enhanced accountability and transparency of the decision-making process.

Every local authority must designate one of its officers as the monitoring officer. This is usually a legal officer but does not have to be.