I think this is a great point to make. The narrative seems too set in in the UK about "councils don't have enough money to do anything except social care" - even if true, social care is HUGE. But as you point out, that is far from the whole story of local govt.
Well also even where they don't have enough money to do other things, that's often why a national policy runs into trouble. Net Zero is a good example
The preventative focus in the NHS will be another. Barely any serious primary prevention work rests with the NHS, and yet... no funding for it!
I noticed when I moved to Finland that every party in the local election in my city had a manifesto commitment on mould. Because people know that mould in schools or public places is bad for health. And they expect the city (city-region council) to sort it out. Weirdly healthy, politically!
Why we treat local gov less seriously than European counterparts is a question that's above my pay grade but it's very interesting. I mean, fewer powers is obvi part of the answer but that just pushes the q back. Councils used to have more powers and we took them away bit by bit.