How your Council works

A handy guide for community groups

This guide is published jointly by NAVCA, IDeA and Urban Forum with the support of the National Empowerment Partnership to provide information on how local authorities work and what they are responsible for. It is designed to help people understand what their council does and help community groups have a greater say in local decision making. It provides essential information to help citizens and groups make the most of opportunities to influence decision-making and hold their council to account.

The guide was mentioned in the recent Empowerment White Paper; we hope it helps move the empowerment agenda forward. It explains councils' obligations to involve local people and contains hot tips on what you can do to improve your communities' relationship with the council.

How your Council works (pdf, 982KB)

Hard copies can be ordered using our publication order forms.