In the South West there are 10 Unitary Authorities, and six Local Authorities based on the county structure. District Councils (35 in total) operate within the counties and Town and Parish councils exist at the most local level across the whole of the region.
Unitary Authorities
Unitary Authorities are single tier and are principally responsible for:
- Education
- Social services
- Council tax and housing benefits
- Public libraries
- Museums and art galleries
- Traffic and transportation
- Refuse collection
- Recycling and disposal
- Planning
- Environmental health
- Swimming pools and leisure facilities
- Parks
- Open spaces and countryside including footpaths
- Cemeteries and crematoria
- Markets and fairs
- Registration of births, deaths, marriages and electorates
- Collecting council tax and business rates.
- County and District Councils
Two tier authorities consist of County Councils and District Councils. The responsibilities are shared as follows:
County Councils are responsible for:
- Education
- Public libraries
- Social services
- Trading standards
- Waste disposal
- Highways and transport
- Strategic land use
-
Planning
District Councils are responsible for:
- Housing
- Parks
- Sports
- Arts and entertainment
- Land use planning permission
- Environmental health
- Waste collection and recycling
- Street cleaning
- Council tax collection
- Council tax and housing benefits
- Electoral registration and administration
In some areas County Councils and Unitary Authorities have shared responsibility for Fire, Rescue and Police Services.
The Audit Commission website contains information about the performance of councils.
The Office for the Deputy Prime Minister is the central department responsible for policy on local government.
