Explain in detail the responsibilities of the different

levels of government in the UK

How government is structured

The Prime Minister is the head of the UK government. He is ultimately responsible for all policy and decisions. He oversees the operation of the Civil Service and government agencies, appoints members of the government, is the most notable figure in the House of Commons. Currently the, Prime Minister is David Cameron that won recent election in May 2015.

The Cabinet - The Cabinet is made up of the senior members of government. Every week during Parliament, members of the Cabinet (Secretaries of State from all departments and some other ministers) meet to discuss the most important issues for the government.

There are 21 members of the Cabinet.

Ministers - Ministers are chosen by the Prime Minister from the members of the House of Commons and House of Lords. They are responsible for the actions, successes and failures of their departments. Altogether there is 96 Ministers that are responsible for day to day running of their departments. There is 117 ministers, plus one prime minister, so altogether there is 118 people running day to day operations of the country.

Central Government - The government also has the power to make laws for the entire country, in contrast with local governments. However, the Prime Minister (David Cameron) is head of the UK government so he’s responsible for all of the policy and decisions he makes. The central government has the responsibility to create laws unlike other levels of government; this is because if all levels of government were able to create laws, there would be chaos and anarchy. One of the central governments is the Ministry of Defence. The MOD is responsible for the Army, Royal Marines, Navy and Royal Air Force; they decide

"1

their pay and conditions, equipment and service locations. Alongside the MOD, there is also The Ministry of Justice that is responsible for courts, prisons and probation services. The Home Office is also part of the central government, they’re responsible for police,imports, exports, immigration, drugs alongside other illegal things, and UK counter-terrorism. Department for Health is also included in the central government, they’re responsible for running the NHS. The HM Revenue and Customs are another part of the central government, they’re responsible for the collection of taxes. Finally, the Department of Communities and Local Government are the final part of the central government, they’re responsible for the UK’s fire and rescue services by allocating local governments with resources to fund their fire and rescue services. They’re also responsible for local government (non-uniformed) but an essential public service.

In UK, there is 24 ministerial departments, 22 non-ministerial departments, and over 300 agencies and public bodies. One of ministerial departments, is as mentioned earlier Ministry of Defence, which is responsible for our armed services. HM Revenue and Customs is a non-ministerial department, and again, as mentioned earlier, they mainly deal with collecting taxes across the UK. And lastly one of the agencies that operates in the UK is Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency which is responsible for maintaining a database of drivers in Great Britain and a database of vehicles for the entire United Kingdom.

Legislation - Laws go through several stages before they are passed by the Parliament. The House of Commons, and The House of Lords work together to make them. However the process takes long time, as both Houses have power to amend or reject bills, which then need to be passed to either house, essentially calling it political ping pong game where the legislation is passed back and forth. However House of Commons has the power to override House of Lords vote, essentially vetoing it.

Devolved Government - In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, devolved administrations are responsible for many domestic policy issues, and their Parliaments/ Assemblies have law-making powers for those areas.

Areas the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland

Executive are responsible for, include: health, education, culture, the environment, transport.

"2

Local government - Councils make and carry out decisions on local services. Many parts of England have 2 tiers of local government: county councils and district, borough or city councils.

In some parts of the country, there’s just one tier of local government providing all the functions, known as a ‘unitary authority’. This can be a city, borough or county council – or it may just be called ‘council’. As well as these, many areas also have parish or town councils.

Parliament - Parliament is separate from government. Made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, its role is to: look at what the government is doing, debate issues and pass new laws, and set taxes.

Local Government - Many parts of England have 2 tiers of local government: county councils, district, borough or city councils

In some parts of the country, there’s just 1 (unitary) tier of local government providing all the local services. The 3 main types are: unitary authorities in shire areas, London boroughs, and metropolitan boroughs.

County councils - These are responsible for services across the whole of a county, like:

education, transport, planning, fire and public safety, social care, libraries, waste management, and trading standards.

District, borough and city councils - These cover a smaller area than county councils. They’re usually responsible for services like: rubbish collection, recycling, Council Tax collections, housing, and planning applications.

Unitary authorities and London and metropolitan boroughs - In some parts of the country, 1 tier of local government provides all the local services listed above.

In London and metropolitan areas some services, like fire, police and public transport, are provided through ‘joint authorities’ (in London by the Greater London Authority).

"3

Parish, community and town councils

These operate at a level below district and borough councils and in some cases, unitary authorities. They’re elected and can help on a number of local issues, like providing:

allotments, public clocks, bus shelters, community centres, play areas and play equipment, grants to help local organisations, consultation on neighbourhood planning

They also have the power to issue fixed penalty fines for things like: litter, graffiti, fly posting, and dog offences.