Functions and Powers
| Arrangement | Upper tier authority | Lower tier authority |
|---|---|---|
| Shire counties | waste management, education, libraries, social services, transport, strategic planning, consumer protection, police, fire | housing, waste collection, council tax collection, local planning, licensing, cemeteries and crematoria |
| Unitary authorities |
housing, waste management, waste collection, council tax collection, education, libraries, social services, transport, planning, consumer protection, licensing, cemeteries and crematoria†, police and fire come under shire councils | |
| Metropolitan counties | housing, waste collection, council tax collection, education, libraries, social services, transport, planning, consumer protection, licensing, police, fire, cemeteries and crematoria† | |
| Greater London | transport, strategic planning, regional development, police, fire | housing, waste collection, council tax collection, education, libraries, social services, local planning, consumer protection, licensing, cemeteries and crematoria† |
† = in practice, some functions take place at a strategic level through joint boards and arrangements
Councils also have a general power to "promote economic, social and environmental well-being" of their area. However, like all public bodies, they are limited by the doctrine of ultra vires, and may only do things that common law or an Act of Parliament specifically or generally allows for — in contrast to the earlier incorporated municipal corporations which were treated as natural persons and could undertake whatever activities they wished to. Councils may promote Local Acts in Parliament to grant them special powers. For example, Kingston upon Hull had for many years a municipally owned telephone company, Kingston Communications.
Read more about this topic: Local Government In England
Famous quotes containing the words functions and, functions and/or powers:
“Empirical science is apt to cloud the sight, and, by the very knowledge of functions and processes, to bereave the student of the manly contemplation of the whole.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Those things which now most engage the attention of men, as politics and the daily routine, are, it is true, vital functions of human society, but should be unconsciously performed, like the corresponding functions of the physical body.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“If powers divine
Behold our human actions—as they do—
I doubt not then but innocence shall make
False accusation blush.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)