In Britain, there are various distinct types of local government structure.

Here is a Table which summarizes Local Government Services and Local Authority Responsibility.

In Scotland, Wales, and often the more urban parts of England, there is a unitary structure of local government (i.e. each area has one council responsible for providing all the services).

For many parts of England, such as here in Warwickshire, there is a two-tier structure, with each area being covered by a District and a County Council.

Outside of London there are also Parish and Town Councils.

UNITARY AUTHORITIES

These are responsible for all powers delegated by central to local government. Their responsibilities, therefore, include education, housing, social services, highways, street lighting, licensing, refuse collection, environmental and planning matters, leisure services etc.
There are 55 unitary authorities in England.
In Wales all 22 local authorities are unitary as are the 32 local authorities in Scotland.

LONDON BOROUGHS

London Boroughs have very similar responsibilities to unitary authorities but have some of their powers transferred to the Greater London Authority, with whom they work in close co-operation. The Greater London Authority also has responsibility for police and fire service. There are 32 London Boroughs and a City of London Corporation.

METROPOLITAN DISTRICTS

Metropolitan Districts have the same responsibilities as unitary councils but comprise the areas covered by the six former Metropolitan Counties (Greater Manchester, Tyne and Wear, Merseyside, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire).

COUNTY COUNCILS

County Council responsibilities include education, social services, libraries, roads, street lighting, the fire service, planning and consumer protection.

There are 27 County Councils including Warwickshire County Council. I am not standing for election as a County Councillor in May.

DISTRICT COUNCILS

District Councils are responsible for refuse collection, housing, licensing, planning, supporting voluntary organisations, leisure facilities, town centres, environmental health, car parking, markets and protecting the environment.

There are around 200 District Councils and it is as one of the three District Councillors for the Guild & Hathaway Ward that I shall be standing for election in May.

PARISH AND TOWN COUNCILS

There are also 10,000 Community (found in Wales), Parish and Town Councils in England and Wales which are made up of nearly 100,000 councillors. Parish Councils can exist where there are anything from 100 residents to over 50,000.

The policies and general direction of a council are debated and agreed by the elected members.

Councillors then play a crucial role in scrutinising those policy decisions once they have been implemented and in monitoring the council's performance across a whole range of areas.

Most councils (including Stratford District Council) now operate a ‘Leader and Cabinet' system (often known as the Executive).

The Executive operates as follows:

The party with the largest number of Councillors (for example, in Stratford the Conservative Group) selects a Leader of the Group from amongst themselves.

The Leader of the Group then becomes the Leader of the Council.

The Leader of the Council then appoints his Cabinet who take part in decision-making. Cabinet members tend to be full-time politicians who propose policy framework and ensure its implementation.

The Cabinet members are generally, although not invariably, selected by the Leader from Councillors within the Group.

On occasion, a Leader may select one or more Cabinet members on cross-party lines.

The number of members on a Cabinet will vary from authority to authority, but it will include the Leader of the Council and senior councillors responsible for particular aspects of policy/service delivery (housing, education, etc).

These are known as ‘portfolio holders'. Portfolio holders work closely with council officers and are responsible for the specific details of their brief as well as ensuring the implementation of agreed policy decisions. As these decisions affect the level and quality of services received by the people whom a councillor represents, they will have a significant effect on the way the council operates.

Councillors who are not members of the Cabinet still play an important role in scrutinising policy decisions and suggesting improvements.

They will conduct the majority of their business through committees where decisions are decided through a majority vote. Once the decision is made on a particular policy, it will be passed to the Cabinet for discussion and approval.

Councils are divided up, for District Councils into electoral areas called ‘wards' and for County Councils, into ‘divisions'.

These will usually cover a few thousand households although size varies from authority to authority. Some wards and divisions are represented by a single Councillor, while others will have more than one representative.

In the case of Guild & Hathaway, the Ward is represented by three Councillors.

The primary role of a Councillor is to represent his or her ward and the individual citizens who live in it. A Councillor is the bridge between the community and the council and his or her activities at District level include:

• Representing the ward within the council and other agencies.
• Holding surgeries thereby giving residents face-to-face contact. In Stratford, Conservative Surgeries are held at 3 Trinity Street in Old Town.
• Undertaking casework on behalf of an individual.
• Campaigning on local issues and winning resources for the ward.
• Supporting local partnerships and organisations.
• Explaining council policy to the residents and ensuring that each policy is carried out fairly.

Councillors are elected for four years unless they are elected at a by-election or in exceptional circumstances such as a boundary change. If a Councillor is elected at a by-election he or she  will have to stand again at the next normal election for the seat.
 
County Council and London elections are held once every four years when all the seats are up for election.

County Councils are divided up into electoral divisions with up to three county councillors representing a division.

Metropolitan Councils have elections for a third of the council three out of four years.
 
District and Unitary Councils are slightly more complicated. Some have all-out elections meaning that every four years every councillor is up for re-election.

Others have elections by halves where every other year half the council is up for re-election

Finally, some councils, such as Stratford District Council, elect by thirds where every year for three years a third of the council is up for re-election and in the fourth year there are no elections.