Government in Wales

WalesGovernment

National Government
§ The UK Parliament is responsible for those areas of government not devolved to the National Assembly.

a. Unitary Authorities
Local authorities are described by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 as "principal councils", and their areas as "principal areas".

Councillors are elected for a term of four years. All persons over aged 18 or over are eligible to stand for election and to vote.

Under the Act, each council formed for a county is allocated the respective English and Welsh descriptions of County Council (or, in Welsh: Cyngor Sir), each council formed for a County Borough is allocated the respective descriptions of County Borough Council (or, in Welsh: Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol); in all cases the shorter alternative forms Council (or, in Welsh: Cyngor) can be used. However, this ruling is not always respected!

Wales is divided into 22 of these unitary authorities, 11 of which are defined as counties and 11 as county boroughs:

Each council is responsible for the provision of all local government services, including:


 * education
 * social work
 * environmental protection
 * local highways

b. Community Councils
Under the Local Government Act 1972, the civil parish was abolished in favour of the community (Welsh: cymuned.) The community is the lowest tier of government in Wales and is the only form of government below the Unitary Authority.

Every part of Wales is within a community and communities can differ widely in size and population. The majority of the communities have an elected community council, however, those communities too small to have a council will organise community meetings.

These Community Councils are responsible for specific aspects of local policy making.