What does my council do?

We deliver a wide range of value-for-money services everyday to residents and local businesses. We do this face-to-face, on-site, on-line, on the phone and in partnership with other organisations. 

By law we must provide the following services:

• Licence premises (for example, pubs, clubs, off-licences) and activities such as taxis and private hire vehicles, street trading, and so on
• Protect people against pollution and deal with complaints about noise nuisance, faulty drains and air pollution
• Inspect food premises to ensure they meet public health standards
• Collect rubbish and recycling
• Clean the streets
• Determine Planning Applications (for example, new developments, house extensions, conservatories, garages, and so on) and enforce planning conditions
• Use our powers to improve poor housing conditions and license Houses in Multiple Occupation (for example, bedsits)
• Administer Disabled Facilities Grants to help people adapt their homes
• Provide temporary accommodation for homeless households
• Collect Council Tax and Business Rates
• Pay Housing Benefit to those who qualify and detect fraud when it occurs
• Provide housing advice, tackle homelessness and manage the housing register (the waiting list for social housing)
• Encourage development of new affordable housing
• Maintain our seafront and sea defences
• Provide a cemetery
• Play a role in civil emergencies, for example floods by supporting victims and providing temporary accommodation
• Manage all local, national and European elections

To support our work we need to:

• Communicate with local people through our corporate website,e-mail, phone, face-to-face and letter
• Employ, support, train and pay our staff
• Manage the public money that we are given
• Manage our own properties, land and factories
• Maintain IT and communications systems that help people contact us, keep records, pay for services electronically (for example, websites: www.hastings.gov.uk)

Even though we need to do these things, we are still trying to do them as efficiently as possible to make sure they offer good value for money.