They also ensure that public participation is increased by playing a far bigger role in their communities. There are 23 ward committees made up of two or more councillors which have responsibility for allocating local budgets. The ward committees also consult people on the council's plans and feed views back to the executive. The electorate as stated in the Register of Electors 2000 is 143,813. The City is divided into 29 wards represented by 53 councillors.
Elections are of the whole council once every four years.
The last elections were in 1999. There are thirty two parishes in the area and of these thirty have their own parish councils, two parishes are grouped to form one parish council. The area which formed the pre 1996 York City area is unparished. Elections are of the whole council held once every four years and are combined with the parish council elections. As part of the information required by the Local Government Commission details of five year electorate forecasts were provided by the Council's Development and Regeneration Section.