How your council operates

In most parts of England there are two tiers of local government:

• county councils
• district and borough councils.

In some parts of England there are also town or parish councils which have more limited powers. To find out more about the different types of local government structure in England, see GOV.UK - Types of council. In West Suffolk we have:

• a county council (Suffolk County Council)
• a district council (West Suffolk)
• 94 parish and town councils.

You can find out more about what each council is responsible for on our page: How your councils work

How your district or borough council is structured

Under the Local Government Act 2000, councils can be structured in one of three ways:

• Leader and cabinet
  Local councillors elect a council leader who then appoints a cabinet. Each cabinet member has a range of responsibilities such as the environment and waste, housing, growth or families and communities. These areas of responsibility are known as 'portfolios' and a cabinet member can also be known as a 'portfolio holder'.

• Executive mayor and cabinet
  The public vote for a mayor who also acts as the leader; the mayor then appoints a cabinet.

• Committee structure
  This is an older style of council structure and usually now only applies to areas with a population of fewer than 85,000. In this structure there is no cabinet and so areas of responsibility are divided between committees.

How West Suffolk Council is structured

West Suffolk Council, which has a total of 64 members, uses the leader and cabinet structure. Councillor Cliff Waterman is the current Leader of the Council and Councillor Victor Lukaniuk is the Deputy Leader. To find out which councillors make up the cabinet and what portfolios they hold, visit: Committee structure