Elections are taking place in Wales in May for all Welsh county and county borough councils and town and community councils. Together, that means almost 9,500 people will be elected to positions which represent all of us.
There are 22 county and county borough councils in Wales with 1,254 councillors which deliver over 700 local services, including:
- Education, such as providing schools, transport to get children to school and providing opportunities for adult learning
- Housing such as finding accommodation for people in need and maintaining social housing
- Social services for example caring for and protecting children, older people and disabled people
- Highways and transport including maintaining roads and managing traffic flow
- Waste management including collecting rubbish and recycling
- Leisure and cultural services like providing libraries, leisure services and arts venues
- Consumer protection such as enforcing trading standards and licencing taxis
- Environmental health and services for example making sure that the food provided in pubs and restaurants is safe to eat, and controlling pollution locally
- Planning including managing local development and making sure buildings are safe
- Economic development for example attracting new businesses and encouraging tourism
- Emergency planning for things like floods or terrorist attacks
Read more: How to apply for a postal or proxy vote for May's elections
There are also 735 community councils and around 8,000 community councillors in Wales. There is a community or town council in many but not all communities and they deliver services such as maintaining playing fields, parks and open spaces, village halls, allotments and cemeteries.
In some cases councillors sit on both a county council and a community or town council. We'll be bringing you all the news from the local elections before, during and after, if you want to learn more, sign up to our Wales Matters newsletter.
The key dates
Wednesday, April 6: The publication of the list of people nominated
Thursday, April 14: The official start of the campaign. This is also the date you have to register to vote by.
Tuesday, April 19: Deadline for receiving new postal vote and postal proxy applications, and for changes to existing postal or proxy votes
Tuesday, April 26: Deadline for receiving new applications to vote by proxy (not postal proxy or emergency proxies)
Thursday, April 28: First date you can apply for replacements for lost postal votes
Thursday, May 5: Council elections held in Wales with polling stations open from 7am until 10pm.
Who can vote?
In Wales, the law means that people of any nationality are eligible to register to vote in local government elections in Wales as are those aged 16 and 17 but you must register to vote, something which takes five minutes to do.
Early voting is taking place in four areas ahead of polling day, they are Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly and Torfaen.
The pilot will allow voting at the elections in certain polling station on the Tuesday and Wednesday before polling day. Wards chosen for the pilot were determined based on turnout rates at the local elections in 2017. There are also trials taking place in schools, as in this election people aged 16 and 17 can vote.
In Blaenau Gwent, the Ebbw Vale Learning Zone will be used as an advanced polling station. In Bridgend, polling stations in certain low turnout wards will be open for advanced voting and a polling station will also be created in a school for registered student. Caerphilly council's offices in Ystrad Mynach will be used as will Torfaen council's offices in Pontypool.
How do I register to vote?
You will need to provide a few details to register - including your national insurance number and date of birth to make the electoral register secure. You can register online or via a paper form.
Do I have to vote in person?
No, if you don't think you can attend, you can choose to vote by post or proxy. You can find out more information about voting by post and by proxy on the Electoral Commission's website. If you think you might want to vote by post we've a guide to that too.
When will we know the results?
Many councils are counting on the day following the elections, not the election night itself, so results aren't expected for the whole of Wales until at least Friday, May 6.
