Severe budgetary constraints are making us look more closely than ever at the mix of services we offer in councils.  There are many routes to achieving savings from stopping deliver a service altogether to redesigning what we deliver to be more efficient and focus better on the most vulnerable people.

But how much discretion do councils have in determining what we deliver?

The answer ultimately lies in the legislation that places a duty on councils to do some things and gives them the power to do others.  Through links to that legislation, esd-toolkit can help.    

Now esd toolkit’s tree views show an interpretation of the legal Powers and Duties governing a large proportion of services in the Local Government Services List (LGSL).  Hence everyone from a council subscribing to esd- toolkit (and that means the majority councils in England and Scotland) can see a summary of their duties and powers with links through to the precise legislation defining council obligations and rights.

Take a look at the Powers and Duties tree view when logged in as a subscribed user to esd-toolkit.  There you’ll see a list of most of the powers and duties conferred on a council by law, with links to LGSL services for each.

The “Legislation” tab summarises the associated Legislation with links to information on the legislation.gov.uk website, which is where legislation is officially published.    

Also, within any tree view, if you look at a service you will see the “Powers and Duties” tab within the “Core” group of tabbed pages.  This links to relevant powers and duties for your chosen services with associated legislation.    

esd-toolkit’s interpretation of powers and duties is inevitably subjective and based on best efforts of contributing councils.  So you should only see it as offering one view rather than the complete picture.  If you keep similar information within your council, please share it with us so we can enhance the information made available to every council.