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Year 11

What are local councils and what do they do?

I can explain the key services a local council provides and how these are funded.

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New
New
Year 11

What are local councils and what do they do?

I can explain the key services a local council provides and how these are funded.

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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

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

Keywords

  • 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

Common misconception

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.


To help you plan your year 11 citizenship lesson on: What are local councils and what do they do?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

To give learners the chance to see specific examples of local council's income and expenditure, it would be good to adapt examples to their local authority.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is this describing? A system of government that operates at a local level providing services to its community.
Correct answer: local council
Parliament
the Cabinet
Q2.
A council {} is someone with specialist knowledge who works for the council and supports local councillors to make decisions for the local area.
Correct Answer: officer
Q3.
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.
Correct answer: There are different types of councils who operate in different ways.
Q4.
Match the sentence starter to the rest of the sentence.
Correct Answer:Devolved power are,issues or matters on which regional areas can decide.
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issues or matters on which regional areas can decide.

Correct Answer:Reserved powers are,issues or matters on which the UK Government can decide.
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issues or matters on which the UK Government can decide.

Correct Answer:Centralisation is,when the central government makes decisions on the majority of issues.
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when the central government makes decisions on the majority of issues.

Q5.
Complete this sentence: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own parliaments or ....
Correct Answer: assemblies, assembly
Q6.
Which of the following best describes devolution?
Devolution has ended, and no new powers will be devolved.
Correct answer: 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.

6 Questions

Q1.
What is the main role of a local council?
making national laws
Correct answer: running local services like transport and housing
controlling the police and courts
setting the UK’s tax rates
Q2.
Where does a local council get its funding from?
only from council tax
only from local businesses
Correct answer: from government funding, council tax, and business rates
from fines collected by the police
Q3.
Which of these is a service provided by local councils?
setting interest rates for banks
Correct answer: running public transport and waste collection
managing the NHS hospitals
Q4.
What is council tax based on?
a person’s yearly salary
Correct answer: the value of a property and the number of people living there
the amount of waste a household produces
Q5.
A sum of money given by an organisation that does not need to be repaid is called a .
Correct Answer: grant
Q6.
Match the term to its correct definition:
Correct Answer:public services,essential local services like schools and waste collection
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essential local services like schools and waste collection

Correct Answer:local taxation,money collected from residents to fund council services
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money collected from residents to fund council services

Correct Answer:funding,money given to support services, sometimes as a grant
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money given to support services, sometimes as a grant