Some areas of England are governed by a single 'unitary' council, covering all aspects of local life under one authority.
Here in the our district there is not a single 'Selby Council', instead council functions are spilt between multiple organisations in what is known as the 'two-tier system'. One of the most notable aspects of the two-tier system is that there are in fact three tiers within it – county, district and civil parish.
Proponents of the two-tier system argue that decisions can be made at a local level whilst allowing for resources to be pooled to allow larger tasks to be taken care of at the county level.
Those who oppose the status quo argue that multiple layers of local government is confusing to local citizens and allows council officials to pass the buck when the going gets tough. They also point to the increased expense caused by the need for multiple sets of elected officials, known as councillors and duplicated staff posts.
The following is a summary of the functions carried out by local government agencies in the Selby area. The list shows the key responsibilities for authorities in each tier in the local system.
For the avoidance of doubt, The Selebian is in no way affiliated with any local government organisation or any other public body or official. This information has been compiled as a public information service.
County Council
North Yorkshire County Council is the top tier authority in this area.
The county council takes the lions share of local council tax bills and controls a budget of around £365 million.
Their headquarters are at County Hall in Northallerton and have 72 elected members, including 10 who represent 'electoral divisions' within the Selby district.
The following is a list of functions that are the responsibility of North Yorkshire County Council:
- Adult education
- Archeology
- Archive of county records
- Citizenship ceremonies
- Disability support inc. blue badges
- Ecology
- Libraries in Selby, Tadcaster and Sherburn
- Parking (on-street only, public car parks are run by the district)
- Planning (but only for mineral extraction and state-schools, etc)
- Public transport
- Record births, marriages and deaths
- Roads, pavements and bridges (maintain highways)
- Road and highway winter gritting
- Schools - primary education (under 11s)
- Schools - secondary education (11-18s)
- School transport
- Social services
- Street lighting (on highways, lighting on land owned by district or parish will be maintained by them)
- Waste and recycling centres (but not collection from homes or businesses)
If you need to contact North Yorkshire County Council you can call them on 01609 534 527 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Their website is at northyorks.gov.uk
District Council
Selby District Council is the middle tier authority in this area.
The following is a list of functions that are the responsibility of Selby District Council:
- Air quality
- Benefits (council tax, housing, etc)
- Building control
- Business rates collection (non-domestic rates)
- Bus passes
- Contaminated land - monitoring of
- Council tax collection
- Fly Tipping
- Food hygiene inspection
- Housing - councilhomes
- Housing - tackle homelessness
- Leisure centres
- Naming streets and numbering buildings
- Pest control
- Planning control and development regulation
- Planning polices to shape development of district
- Public toilets
- Register to vote
- Selby park and amphitheatre management
- Stray dogs
- Street cleaning
- Street signs
- Licenses for alcohol and entertainment
- Licenses for taxis
- Waste and recycling collection
- Welfare burials
If you need to contact Selby District Council you can call their call centre on 01757 705 101 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Their website is at selby.gov.uk
Civil Parish Councils
The Selby district is made up of 74 civil parishes. These range in size from tiny 'Parish Meetings' in villages such as West Haddlesey, larger 'Parish Councils' in Brayton and Barlow and full sized 'Town Councils' in Selby and Tadcaster.
- Allotments
- Cemeteries
- Christmas lighting
- Civic celebrations, Guy Fawkes, fun days, etc
- Civic remembrance
- Community centres
- Markets
- Play sites
- Selby 'Town Hall' events
- Town or village hall - operation of
