Article 23 of the Saudi Provinces Law

This article sets out the competences of the Provincial Council. The general competence is to study everything that would raise the level of services in the province, and the council in particular:

1. Needs: identifies the province's needs and proposes including them in the State's development plan.
2. Projects: identifies useful projects according to their priority, and proposes their approval in the State's annual budget.
3. Master plans: studies the master plans for the province's cities and villages and follows up their implementation after they are approved.
4. Follow-up: follows up the implementation of what concerns the province in the development plan and the budget, and coordinates in that.

Note that the council's role regarding the plan and the budget is advisory: it proposes inclusion and approval, and does not decide them itself. On master plans, its role is to study and to follow up implementation after approval. The phrase "in particular" indicates that these examples do not exhaust the general competence.

This article follows Article 22, which regulates the appointment of a replacement for an appointed member within three months of the vacancy. It is followed by Article 24, which makes it one of the council's tasks to propose any public-benefit work for the province's citizens, encourage citizens' contribution to it, and submit it to the Minister of Interior.

In practical terms for a citizen: the Provincial Council is the body that identifies your province's needs and proposes its projects. Anyone who needs to know the council's role in a particular matter can consult a lawyer specialized in administrative cases.