How local government works
Bins, libraries, roads and social care — most of the services you notice daily are actually run by your local council, not Westminster.
Part of your national curriculum
- Democracy and government: Understand the functions and uses of local government and how decisions are made in the local area
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Understand the functions and uses of local government and how decisions are made in the local area
Key learning points
- • What councils do
- • Councillors and committees
- • How decisions are made
This lesson at a glance
- 25 minutes
- 14 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 14
Watch first
How local government works
An English teaching video on this topic from Bitesize Education. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Understand the functions and uses of local government and how decisions are made in the local area
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 14
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · What councils do
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 14
Learn
What councils do
Local councils provide services including waste collection, libraries, social care, planning permission and local roads. They are funded partly by council tax and partly by grants from central government.
Explore the idea
Part 4 of 14
Learn
Councillors and committees
Residents elect local councillors, usually every four years, to represent their ward. Councillors sit on committees that scrutinise spending and make decisions such as approving a new housing development or a school budget.
Quick check
Part 5 of 14
Quick check
Which service is typically run by a local council?
Reset break
Part 6 of 14
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 7 of 14
Quick check
How are councillors chosen?
Learning cycle
Part 8 of 14
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · How decisions are made
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 9 of 14
Learn
How decisions are made
Big decisions often start with a council meeting or a public consultation, where residents can comment on proposals. Councils must publish their decisions and reasoning, so citizens can hold them to account or challenge unfair outcomes.
Quick check
Part 10 of 14
Quick check
What can residents do before a council makes a big decision?
Challenge round
Part 11 of 14
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 12 of 14
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Local ____ provide services including waste collection, libraries, social care, planning permission and local roads.
They are funded partly by council tax and partly by grants from central ____.
Residents elect local ____, usually every four years, to represent their ward.
Mastery quiz
Part 13 of 14
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: How local government works
3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. Which service is typically run by a local council?
2. How are councillors chosen?
3. What can residents do before a council makes a big decision?
Lesson round-up
Part 14 of 14
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
Should the town centre have a curfew for under-16s?
After a rise in reported vandalism, Harbrook council proposed that under-16s should not be in the town centre after 9 pm without an adult. Police recorded 62 incidents last year, most between 9 pm and midnight. Shopkeepers signed a petition supporting the plan.
A youth council objected. They pointed out that most young people in town at night were going home from sports clubs or work, that the plan punishes a whole group for the acts of a few, and that the library and the bus interchange are in the town centre. They asked instead for a late bus and a youth space.
The council voted to trial the curfew for six months and to publish the crime figures at the end.
Written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Give the strongest point on each side of the argument, using a fact from the case.
- Whose rights and whose responsibilities are involved here? Explain both.
- Write your own view on the curfew with reasons and one example.
Reading and response
ReadingRead the case in the lesson again and write what you think should happen, and why it is fair. Use one fact from the case as evidence.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
WritingWrite your answer to the lesson's big question in full: the strongest point on each side, then your own view with reasons and an example.
250–350 words
Reading log
ReadingFind one news story this week that links to this lesson. Note the headline, where you read it, and how it connects.
1 story, 4–5 sentences
Two sides of the argument
WritingWrite the strongest point for, the strongest point against, and then your own view with a reason.
3 paragraphs
Poster or leaflet plan
DiagramPlan a leaflet that explains this right or responsibility to someone your age, then photograph it.
1 planned page
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover
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Understand the functions and uses of local government and how decisions are made in the local area