Town Councils

2011-IVAP local guide

Time to get working!

Open the document Local Guide 2011, and carry out the following tasks:

  1. Look at the classification of the powers of local councils. What do you think is the most important thing? (page 174))
  2. Analyse the municipalities' own powers. Which are the five most important? (page 176)
  3. What powers overlap with the powers of other tiers of government? (page 178)
  4. Go to the page on Minimum Mandatory Services (page 180), and answer the following questions:
    1. What are the services all municipalities should provide?
    2. What other services are municipalities with a population of over 5,000 required to provide?
    3. What other services do municipalities with over 20,000 inhabitants have to provide?
    4. What other services do those with a population of over 50,000 have to provide?
    5. Considering the population of your town, does your municipality fulfil the minimum services set in the Local Guide 2011?
  5. Go to the page on trans-municipal bodies (page 184), and answer the following questions:
    1. Why are trans-municipal bodies formed?
    2. What are they? Give some examples.
  6. Now go to the page on economic resources of local government (page 546), and answer the following questions:
    1. What financial resources are mentioned?
    2. From your perspective, which resources contribute most to town councils?
    3. Is there any information on your town council's website relating to those financial resources listed? Which ones are mentioned?
    4. If there is not enough information on your town hall's website, you can go there in person and ask for information on what interests you.

… And finally, a few questions to consider: what would happen if there weren't enough money to provide all the services offered by the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa? What can and should we do to have those services?

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