Powers and duties

Powers and duties

Legal status of local authorities

Local authorities are statutory corporations, created by Parliament as single legal entities, as described in Hazel v Hammersmith and Fulham:

'local authority, although democratically elected and representative of the area, is not a sovereign body and can only do such things as are expressly or impliedly authorised by Parliament'.

There are many such statutory provisions, some providing an overall framework but most charge the authority with carrying out one among many, sometimes competing, functions of a council or local authority for a particular purpose.

Specific statutory powers relating to local authority duties in service provision and commissioning are covered in the adult and children’s social care, education, environmental law, highways, licensing, public procurement and social housing specialist topics. The governance topic generally and this subtopic particularly is concerned with the wider powers and duties that overlay specific statutory duties and form the cornerstone of good governance for local authorities.

Central to exercise of good decision making is analysis of the following fundamental questions:

•
is there statutory authority to make this decision?
•
is the decision made in furtherance

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Local Government weekly highlights—12 March 2026

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes the latest coverage on local government reorganisation and public procurement. Case analysis includes JR87 and another for Judicial Review, in which the Supreme Court held the provision of religious education in a NI primary school contravened human rights; Duffy v Birmingham CC, in which the court held that failure to tick the box certifying compliance with the indemnity principle does not of itself invalidate the bill of costs; CLT v LB Hounslow, in which the court found that the LA acted unlawfully in failing to treat a bereaved child as ‘looked after’ despite having a private fostering arrangement; and Dharmeshkumar v SSHCLG on the CPR 52.6 test for permission to appeal from the Planning Court. Case reports include KTS v Governing Body of Milby Primary School in which the UT allowed an appeal and permitted publishing the decisions naming the school in disability discrimination case, emphasising primacy of open justice; MB v Hertfordshire, in which the UT found an error of law in refusal to include additional provisions in an EHC plan; Housing 35 Plus Ltd v Nottingham CC, which dismissed an appeal on HMO licensing exemption in finding the management committee structure insufficient; and NHS South-West ICB v XY, in which the court refused to extend the welfare deputy’s authority to internet and social media use. This edition includes further updates on Local government reorganisation, Public procurement, Education, Governance, Children’s social care, Planning, Social housing, Adult social care, Local government finance, Healthcare, Licensing and Pensions.

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