The County Council is a democratically governed authority. It is responsible for planning and providing all health care, financing privately-run health care and for levying taxes on county residents.

The County Council Assembly

The Assembly is the County Council’s highest governing body and the only elected parliament in the county.

County residents elect the 71 members of the Assembly, who represent various political parties,  every four years. The majority of those elected serve in their spare time and only a few are full-time politicians.

Each year the County Council Assembly decides the county tax rate. The Assembly sets guidelines for the Councils activities, determines the economic framework and adopts the budget.

The Assembly holds six meetings a year, all open to the public. Between these meetings, politicians work in committees that prepare issues for later decisions.

The County Council Executive Board

The Executive Board leads and coordinates Council activities. The 15 members of the Executive Board are appointed by the County Council Assembly from the political majority and the opposition parties. All issues raised by the Assembly have first been prepared by the County Council Executive Board.

The specialist Boards

Eight specialist boards report to the the  Executive Board. They are tasked with implementing and improving Council activities and services. The boards are:

• Primary Care and Public Dental Service.
• Psychiatric Care, Habilitation and Assistive Devices.
• Specialist Medical Care.
• Research.
• Traffic services, Environment and Public Services.
• Regional Growth, Culture and Education.
• Public Health.
• Occupational Health Care, Interpretation and Sworn authorized Translation Services.

Citizens’ rights

The County Council is a democratic organisation and complies with the Swedish Principle of Public Access. This means citizens have a right to read public documents and access information about the County Council’s activities.

All residents of the county also have the right to submit citizens’ motions to the County Council Assembly. These motions are prepared and handled in the same way as motions by elected members of the Assembly.