How councils work
Foundations of Local Government.
Around four hours on how councils work: types of authority, governance models, the golden thread and council finance, all tested against the case of Somerset Council.
- Level
- Focus
- Learning time
- 4 hours
- Where
- Foundations of Local Government
- Price
- £69
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion, or Certificate of Completion and Assessment with a short assessment
Overview and Outcomes.
Who It's For
Officers, new councillors and partners getting to grips with local government
Overview
Local government touches every resident every day, yet how it works is often invisible until something goes wrong. This programme sets out the foundations: the scale of what councils deliver and nearly two centuries of reform from 1835 to the Localism Act 2011; the types of authority and the leader and cabinet, committee and mayoral models; the golden thread from corporate plan to residents' lived experience and the Best Value Duty; partnership and place; and council finance, from the section 151 officer to section 114 notices. It closes by testing every foundation against the case of Somerset Council.
Aims
This programme aims to give officers, new members and partners a sound working grasp of how councils are structured, governed, planned and funded. The shift it seeks is from knowing a single service to seeing the council as one system, with the judgement to recognise when its foundations are holding and when they are under strain.
In summary, you will be able to:
- Explain how English councils are structured and governed, distinguishing types of authority and governance models and noting where Wales takes a different position.
- Trace the golden thread from corporate plan to outcomes, and assess how partnership working and the Best Value Duty support it in practice.
- Assess a council's financial resilience and the soundness of its foundations, using budget duties, funding pressures and the Woking and Somerset cases.
What you'll develop
Through this Focus course, you will build the ability to:
- Explain the scale and breadth of what English councils deliver, using the four service categories of caring, educating and housing, shaping places and everyday essentials.
- Distinguish two tier, unitary, combined authority and parish arrangements and identify which council delivers a given service in each.
- Describe what a corporate plan contains and trace the five levels of the golden thread from vision to residents' lived experience.
- Explain the four drivers of partnership working: shared outcomes, complexity, cost and capacity, and legal duty.
- Describe the main sources of council income and distinguish what revenue and capital budgets should pay for.
- Describe the five foundations of local government and explain how they connect as one system.
Built from 3 parts.
4 hours of learning.
- 01How councils came to beTypes of local authority and council structuresBitesize2 modules
- 02Working for the whole placeCouncil strategy, partnerships and placeBitesize2 modules
- 03Where the money goesCouncil budgets, finance and service deliveryBitesize2 modules
You have reached the top of this topic
- You are hereFocus, 4 hours, £69
It is also part of these programmes:
Other topics in Serving the public
- Working in a Political EnvironmentPolitically savvy6 hours 30 minutes£129
- Leading through Reorganisation, Mergers and Shared ServicesRebuilding together5 hours 30 minutes£129
- Complaints, Ombudsmen and Learning from FailureWhen things go wrong5 hours 30 minutes£129
- Being a CouncillorElected to serve5 hours 30 minutes£129
- Effective ScrutinyCritical friends3 hours 30 minutes£69
- Safeguarding for LeadersKeeping people safe5 hours 30 minutes£129
