Milton Keynes has become a unitary authority, responsible in its own right for services previously provided by Buckinghamshire County Council and Milton Keynes Borough Council. County and District Councils County and district authorities operate under separate, independently-elected councils and have their own separate responsibilities, although there are some functions which are exercised by both tiers of authority.
County councils are responsible for a wide range of functions and have certain reserve powers.
District councils are not subordinate to county councils nor are they responsible to county councils for the functions which they exercise in their own right. A county council may arrange for certain functions to be exercised by district councils within its area on an agency basis. These functions relate principally to highways matters. Where a district council acts on behalf of a county council the agency agreement determines the powers of control and supervision which the county council will have. The county council has, however, no general right or duty to supervise the district councils in its area.