In England and Wales there are five types of council:
- County Council
- District Council
- Metropolitan Council
- Shire English and Welsh Unitary authorities
- London boroughs
What this means is that depending on where you live you may either have one council (unitary authority) responsible for all your services, or two.
Derbyshire has a two-tier system of local government. This means that no matter where you live in the County (excluding Derby City which is a unitary authority), services are shared between two councils.
Derbyshire County Council provide the following services
- Education
- Social Services
- Community Safety
- Strategic Planning
- Public Transport
- Highways
- Economic Development
- Consumer Protection
- Libraries
- Community Planning
- Waste Disposal and Re-cycling
Amber Valley Borough Council provides the following services:
- Housing and Council Tax Benefits
- Elections
- Electoral Registration
- Council Tax and Business Rates Collection
- Democratic Representation including Cabinet, Scrutiny and Standards
- Land Charges
- Maintaining premises in accordance with the Disabilities Discrimination Act
- Concessionary Fares
- Cash Collection
- Dog Control
- Refuse Collection and Recycling
- Local Development Framework
- Community Planning
- Environmental Health, including controlling noise and air pollution
- Nightsoil and Cesspool Emptying
- Pest Control
- Street Naming
- Housing, including grants to improve housing, providing adaptations for persons with disabilities and enforcing repairs in rented housing
- Preventing and reducing homelessness
- Planning
- Building Control
- Burial Grounds
- Health and Safety
- Contaminated Land
- Food Safety
- Statutory nuisance
- Street Cleaning
- Licensing
- Keeping, protecting and publishing statutory accounts and records
Amber Valley Borough Council is committed to working with statutory, voluntary and private sector partners to improve the well being of its community and those who live, work and visit the Borough.
Much of this work is achieved through the Amber Valley Partnership established in 1994. Key partners include
A Community Strategy has been developed by members of the partnership setting out the long term vision and priorities for improving the quality of life in the Borough.
The Monitoring Officer
Under the provisions of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, councils have a duty to appoint a Monitoring Officer to ensure the lawfulness and fairness of Council decision making.
The Monitoring Officer is responsible for maintaining the Council's Constitution and the decision making process. He is responsible for advising the Council on the legality of its decisions and providing guidance to Councillors on the Constitution and its powers.
The Monitoring Officer also works closely with the Standards Committee to assist it in its role of promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct of Councillors.
The Returning Officer
The Chief Executive acts as the Returning Officer for local elections for County, District and Parish Council elections. The Returning Officer is responsible for overseeing elections in each of the constituencies.
