Types of council
This guide relates to councils in England. Find information about councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Many parts of England have 2 tiers of local government:
county councils
district, borough or city councils
In some parts of the country, there’s 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’re 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 ‘joint authorities’ (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’re 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