Brief guide to Breckland District Council

National policies are set by central Government, but local councils have a wide range of powers and duties, with responsibility for local matters and delivering day-to-day services. The main link between local authorities and central Government in England is the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which is responsible for developing national policy on how local government operates and is funded. Other government departments deal with national policy on local services e.g. the Department for Education and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Local Government Structure

Across England, local governmental bodies are arranged into a mixture of one and two-tier systems, with two levels in most of the country but only one level in some areas which is responsible for the provision of all local services; these are known as unitary authorities. Norfolk is administered by Norfolk County Council, which is the top tier local government authority, based at County Hall in Norwich.

Below Norfolk County Council, the county is divided into seven second tier district councils: Breckland District, Broadland District, Great Yarmouth Borough, King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough, North Norfolk District, Norwich City and South Norfolk District.

Below the second-tier councils the majority of the County is divided into Parish and Town Councils the lowest tier of local government (the only exceptions being parts of Norwich and Kings Lynn urban areas).

In London, each borough is a unitary authority, but the Greater London Authority (i.e. the Mayor and Assembly) is responsible for certain services like police and transport.

Town and Parish Councils

In some parts of England, there are also town and parish councils, which are sometimes described as the third tier of local government. Parish councils are currently responsible for a limited number of services such as bus shelters, footpaths, recreation facilities, public toilets, drainage, etc. Parish councillors are elected for a period of four years.

Funding for parish councils comes partially from residents and is taken from the area's Council Tax in the form of an annual precept. An amount based on the income and expenditure forecast for the next financial year is added to the local Council Tax and then returned to parishes.

Save for some councillor conduct and elections issues, Town and parish councils are sovereign bodies and are not accountable to the district or county councils.

Further information about town and parish councils may be found at the websites of the National Association of Local Councils (opens new window)

Functions and duties

Local authorities work within powers laid down under various acts of Parliament.

In the Local Government Act 1972, the Government delegated specific duties to local government, together with the necessary powers to raise some of the money needed to pay for them. These duties are called statutory duties. In addition, there are regulatory services - such as planning applications, alcohol, gambling, and taxi licensing - that councils must provide. Councils also carry out some other duties which are discretionary and therefore non-statutory.

The Local Government Act 1972 reformed the structure of local government in England and Wales, dividing England into county and district councils. In total there are 333 local authorities in England made up of five different types:

• County councils
• District councils
• Unitary authorities
• Metropolitan districts
• London boroughs

The Local Government Act 2000 reformed local government in England and Wales, principally providing for:

• local authorities to promote economic, social and environmental well-being within their areas;
• local authorities to move away from a committee-based system of decision-making to an executive model;
• backbench councillors to fulfil an overview and scrutiny role.
• the introduction of a revised ethical framework for local authorities, including the adoption of codes of conduct for elected members and the establishment of standards committees.

The present structure of local government in England is:

• Greater London Authority (created May 2000)
• 32 London Boroughs
• 1 City of London Corporation
• 1 Isles of Scilly
• 36 Metropolitan District Councils in urban towns/cities
• 58 Unitary Authorities
• 24 County Councils
• 181 District Councils
• 10 combined authorities
• 9,000 (approx) town and parish councils

There are roughly 20,000 people in England representing their communities by serving as councillors on a local authority. Councillors are elected to represent an individual geographical unit of the council known as a Ward (District) or Division (County).

In the Breckland District, all councillors are elected once every 4 years. Elections are held on the first Thursday in May, with the next elections due in May 2027.

If a councillor resigns or dies whilst in office, a by-election is held to elect another person to represent that Ward. Councillors elected at a by-election serve the remaining period of the 4-year term. However, where a vacancy occurs within 6 months of the date of the next ordinary election, the seat is left vacant until the next election.

Currently, 49 councillors are serving on Breckland District Council from the following political parties:

Of these, 15 are female and 33 are male.

View Breckland Council Ward Map (PDF) [11MB] (opens new window)

The present ward structure in the District is:

Breckland Council is responsible for delivering a wide range of services. Norfolk County Council is responsible for delivering strategic and, generally speaking, more costly services. The following information gives a flavour of the division of services between the two councils:

Breckland Council

• Waste Collection (including Recycling) (collection of domestic and commercial waste (delivered by Serco)
• Leisure Services (provision and maintenance of our Leisure Centres delivered by Parkwood)
• Housing (homelessness support etc)
• Elections (administration of European, Parliamentary and Local elections)
• Planning (dealing with applications for construction, alteration, demolition, conservation, developing a Local Plan etc) 
• Licensing (administration of licensing regime for sale of alcohol, taxis, animal boarding establishments etc)
• Environmental Health (enforcement of health hygiene and safety standards, pollution problems etc)
• Car Parks
• Tax collection (Council Tax & Non-Domestic Rates (delivered by the Anglia Revenues & Benefits Partnership (ARP))

Norfolk County Council

• Waste Disposal
• Social Services
• Education
• Highways
• Traffic
• Fire Service
• Libraries
• Youth Services

A full list of the services both councils offer can be found on the home pages of the relevant website

• Breckland Council
• Norfolk County Council (opens new window)

Not all services are delivered directly by the Council. The Anglia Revenues Partnership (ARP) for example, is a group of five councils, who are working together to provide high-quality, shared revenue services to their residents. By working together through this partnership, the councils are reducing costs and providing a more efficient, effective service. The councils involved in the partnership are:

• Breckland Council
• East Cambridgeshire District Council
• Fenland District Council
• East Suffolk District Council
• West Suffolk District Council

The aim of the partnership is to run an efficient Council Tax and Housing Benefits service, while reducing administration costs to each partner council. By working together, and pooling our staff and resources, each council has achieved significant savings. The Anglia Revenues Partnership is now the largest revenues partnership in England. The Partnership continues to look for innovative ways of reducing costs whilst improving services, with its focus on excellent customer service.

Visit our Council Tax page for further information.

Councillors:

• Elected every 4 years by the electorate of the District aged 18 or over (and eligible to vote)
• Not salaried employees of the Council but do receive an allowance and expenses to cover cost of public duties
• Represent political parties or can be Independent
• Each councillor represents a part of the District known as a ward
• Some wards are represented by more than one councillor
• Help residents with queries or problems which usually relate to Council services
• Develop links with local community groups and organisations
• Campaign on local issues
• Take decisions as part of full Council by serving on the Cabinet or by sitting on Council committees
• Councillors come from all walks of life, age groups and backgrounds

Officers:

• Salaried employees of the Council - appointed not elected
• Non-political
• Role is to implement Council decisions, provide advice and manage the delivery of services

As of 2024, the Council's Senior Management Team comprises of the Statutory Officer positions:

• Chief Executive & Head of Paid Service
• Monitoring Officer & Deputy Chief Executive
• S151 Officer & Assistant Director of Finance
• Data Protection Officer & Information Governance Officer

​​​​​​​Our full management structure can be viewed on our website.

Councillors are elected by local people to run the Council. In practice, the delivery of services and day-to-day management of the Council is carried out by officers of the Council. Councillors will initiate and develop policies, but officers are responsible for providing advice and implementation.

Traditionally, the decision-making structure of the Council has been divided into several tiers. Beneath the full Council, there used to be several committees organised by service or subject. Beneath these were sub-committees and working groups established to deal with specific issues. All councillors, sitting as full Council, would receive recommendations from the various committees which it would accept, reject, or amend.

Following the Local Government Act 2000, Breckland District Council adopted a new decision-making structure in the form of a Leader and Cabinet system. This was revised in 2011 and became the Strong Leader and Executive (or Cabinet) Model. Cabinet is the part of the Council that is responsible for making most day-to-day decisions. However, although not responsible for day-to-day decision-making, full Council is where all councillors meet to debate, and take decisions on, constitutional issues, the budget, the Council's policies, and the appointment of senior officers, amongst other things.

Cabinet does not have responsibility for quasi-judicial and regulatory functions such as planning and licensing, and these are delegated by the Council to separate decision-making committees. There is also an Overview and Scrutiny Commission which provide for councillors who are not on the Cabinet to scrutinise Cabinet decisions and influence Council policies in development.

In 2024, the decision-making structure of the Council looks like this:

• Council - all 48 Members (plus one vacancy)
• Cabinet (group in control only) - 9 Members
• General Purposes Committee - 6 Members
• Governance & Audit Committee - 6 Members
• Licensing Committee(s) - 15 Members
• Planning Committee - 12 Members
• Overview Scrutiny Commission - 12 Members
• Appointments and Disciplinary - 3 Members
• Appointments and Disciplinary Appeals - 4 Members

The Cabinet comprises:

• The Leader of the Council
• The Deputy Leader of the Council

and Portfolio Holders for:

• Health and Communities
• Housing and Homelessness
• Waste, Environmental Health, Licensing and Sustainability
• Customer and Corporate Services
• Economic Development and Growth 
• Property, Projects and Procurement
• Finance, Revenue and Benefits
• Strategic and Operational Planning (Deputy Leader)

Further information about the role of the Cabinet and its Members can be found on our Council Information page.

Breckland District Council obtains the money it spends on services from a number of sources:

Council Tax

The money collected through Council Tax is divided between the organisations and authorities that provide local services such as education, policing, and rubbish collection - this includes:     

• your county council       
• your district/ borough council       
• your police and crime commissioner   
• your fire authority (if applicable)       
• your parish or town council

Breckland Council has the lowest District Council Tax in the County.

Government Grants

The Government gives grants to local authorities to subsidise the cost of local services. Allocations to individual councils are intended to allow similar levels of service to be provided throughout the country. However, the levels of funding have reduced over recent years, but a new funding regime was implemented in 2020/21.

Fees and Charges

These are the charges made to customers using council services such as licensing (taxis, tattoo premises, etc.); planning (for permission to build new, and change current, properties etc.); environmental health (inspecting restaurants etc.) etc.

National Non-Domestic Rates (Business Rates)

The Council collects business rates from businesses in the Breckland District. The rate is set nationally, and Breckland District Council has no influence over how much is charged. An element of this funding is retained by Breckland directly and the remainder is passed to Central Government and Norfolk County Council.

Commercial Property

A further area of income is in relation to commercial property. Breckland Council became the Commercial Property Specialist and winner of the 2017 MJ Awards for Commercialism in the Property Estate. The income from our commercial property helps to keep the cost of the Council Tax down.

Council spending is divided between capital and revenue.

Capital spending is for one-off payments to buy things like buildings and to finance significant projects, such as regeneration projects and new equipment.

Revenue spending is the way the Council pays for the services it delivers. Some examples of services provided are:

• Refuse and recycling collection from the District's households (contracted to Serco).
• Cleaning the streets and public areas of the District (contracted to Serco).
• Asset and facilities management, including parks and open spaces and other corporate assets.
• Community engagement.
• Housing services, including housing allocation, homelessness support and private sector housing.
• Planning and regeneration delivery.
• Tourism.
• Regulatory services, including licensing, environmental health (e.g., dog fouling, littering);
• Housing benefits provision and Council Tax support scheme;
• Car parks (maintenance and repair).
• Community safety and CCTV.
• Collection of Council Tax and Business Rates (NNDR).

The Council budget is set in February of each year.

More detailed information on Council finance is available on our Statement of Accounts page.