District Councils

First initiatives

The District Councils are to the neighbourhoods what the City Council is to Amsterdam. Amsterdam's first District Councils were established in the early 1980s, when Amsterdam-Noord and Osdorp were given their own authority through extensive independent powers, their own budgets and team of civil servants.

The idea was that neighbourhood authorities such as these would contribute to more efficient and effective decision-making and their inhabitants would feel more involved in and connected to the local government.

The experiment in Amsterdam-Noord and Osdorp went well and, in the years that followed, the number of District Councils increased to 16. As of May 2010, this has decreased to seven districts. Each have their own District Councils. The neighbourhood of Westpoort does not have its own District Council and is the responsibility of the central city government.

Tenure

Currently, the members of these District Councils are elected every four years by the voting residents of the neighbourhood in question. The number of seats on a neighbourhood council depends on the population of the neighbourhood and the chosen form of government.

Each sub-committee meets as a rule every four weeks in the relevant neighbourhood office. These meetings are open to the public.

The neighbourhood chairman

Like the central city government, a neighbourhood's daily administration involves a number of (district) councillors and a neighbourhood chairman.

At first sight, a neighbourhood chairman appears similar to a mayor, but there are important differences: a neighbourhood chairman is not appointed by the Crown, but is elected by the neighbourhood council. Furthermore, a neighbourhood chairman has fewer powers than the Mayor, for example administration of the police. These powers rest with the Mayor.

Day-to-day workings

The composition of the day-to-day administration varies from one neighbourhood to another. In some of the neighbourhoods the members of the day-to-day administration are elected by and from the District Council. Once appointed, these day-to-day administrators remain members of the District Council, so they can still vote at District Council meetings.

Other neighbourhoods operate a 'dualistic model'. Under this system, the members of the day-to-day administration cease to belong to the District Council after being appointed.

This is like the situation in central government, where members of the cabinet may not sit in the Lower House of parliament. Important features of dualism include the fact that members of the day-to-day administration may be drawn from outside the neighbourhood council, and that the day-to-day administration cannot vote on its own proposals.

Tasks and responsibilities

The tasks and responsibilities of a District Council are to some extent similar to those of any local authority with a similar population. For example, a District Council is responsible for the management of public spaces - ensuring that refuse is collected, roads repaired on time, streets swept and parks, playing fields and cemeteries properly maintained.

Plans and policies

A District Council also formulates development plans and to a large extent defines policies relating to the arts, sport, recreation and social issues. A sub-committee also has the financial resources to support certain policies with subsidies.

Residents can apply to the District Council office for virtually anything to do with registration (passports, driving licences, birth certificates etc.) or for permits (planning permission, tree-felling permits, catering licences etc.).

In the past, the city council handled these matters for the whole city, but now does so only for the one neighbourhood without a separate neighbourhood authority, namely Westpoort, the western harbour area of Amsterdam.