Introducing Local Government
Paul Masterman
Local government can offer a range of really interesting jobs, but is big and complex.
Here is a brief introduction to the types of councils and what they do. This will help you decide which councils have jobs that fit your experience, qualifications and expertise.
There are 468 local authorities in the UK and they are organised as follows:
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ENGLAND:
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WALES SCOTLAND N.IRELAND |
- Metropolitan Councils (e.g. Birmingham City Council), Unitary Councils (e.g. Newport Borough Council) and London Boroughs (e.g. London Borough of Lewisham) deliver all the local government services in their area.
These include the big recruiters such as Social Services and Education, as well as Libraries, Housing or Trading Standards.
Unitary councils in Wales can be called county borough council, county council, city council or just council. But they all the same!
- Local authority services outside these areas are shared between county councils (e.g. Kent County Council) or district councils (e.g. Wellingborough Borough Council).
County Councils run Social Services and Education, among other services - and district councils don't, concentrating on services such as Housing, Leisure and refuse collection.
- Police and Fire Services are run separately - but they do have local councillors on their governing bodies and their civilian employees are often employed by one of the nearby local councils.
- The Greater London Authority run by Ken Livingstone is responsible for London-wide strategic issues such as Transport, but day to day services are still run by the local borough councils
Search for Public Sector jobs or visit Monster's Local Governnment Forum
