Which Authority Does What?

Which authority does what?

Many parts of England, including much of Devon, have two 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 (for example, Torbay Council, Plymouth Council).

County councils

These are responsible for services across the whole of a county, like:

• education

• transport

• highways (including pot hole repairs)

• public safety

• social care (adults and children)

• libraries

• trading standards

• on-street parking

District, borough and city councils

These cover a smaller area than county councils. They’re usually responsible for services like:

• rubbish collections

• recycling

• council tax collections

• housing

• planning applications

• off-street parking

• licensing

• building control

• administering local elections

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:

• allotments

• bus shelters

• community centres

• public toilets (some overlap with districts)

• play areas and play equipment (some overlap with districts)

• grants to help local organisations

• consultation on neighbourhood planning

• Christmas lights