What are local councils and what do they do? | Citizenship

Starter quiz

What is this describing? A system of government that operates at a local level providing services to its community.

local council ✓

Parliament

the Cabinet
A council {} is someone with specialist knowledge who works for the council and supports local councillors to make decisions for the local area.

'officer' ✓
Which of the following statements is true about local councils?

All local councils are run in the same way.

Local councils only provide services to cities, not rural areas.

There are different types of councils who operate in different ways. ✓
Match the sentence starter to the rest of the sentence.

Devolved power are

⇔

issues or matters on which regional areas can decide. ✓

Reserved powers are

⇔

issues or matters on which the UK Government can decide. ✓

Centralisation is

⇔

when the central government makes decisions on the majority of issues. ✓
Complete this sentence: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own parliaments or ....

'assemblies' ✓
Which of the following best describes devolution?

Devolution has ended, and no new powers will be devolved.

Devolution is still evolving, with powers continuing to be transferred. ✓

Devolution only affects Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Devolution means that all decisions are made by the UK Government.

What is the main role of a local council?

making national laws

running local services like transport and housing ✓

controlling the police and courts

setting the UK’s tax rates
Where does a local council get its funding from?

only from council tax

only from local businesses

from government funding, council tax, and business rates ✓

from fines collected by the police
Which of these is a service provided by local councils?

setting interest rates for banks

running public transport and waste collection ✓

managing the NHS hospitals
What is council tax based on?

a person’s yearly salary

the value of a property and the number of people living there ✓

the amount of waste a household produces
A sum of money given by an organisation that does not need to be repaid is called a ______.

'grant' ✓
Match the term to its correct definition:

public services

⇔

essential local services like schools and waste collection ✓

local taxation

⇔

money collected from residents to fund council services ✓

funding

⇔

money given to support services, sometimes as a grant ✓

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Local councils provide many services including education, healthcare, transport, housing and waste management.
Local councils are given a budget through government funding, council tax and business rates.
Local councils have the power to make decisions on planning, local laws and public services.
Community members can get their voice heard by voting in elections or attending council meetings.

Local councils have full control of their spending so can make all decisions themselves.

Part of their funding comes from national government so they sometimes have to priorities government led initiatives over local need.

Local council - a system of government that operates at local level providing services to its community
Council tax - a local, direct tax calculated on the basis of the value of a property and the number of people living there
Grants - a sum of money gifted by an organisation or person that does not need to be repaid