Levels of UK Government

European Parliament
The European parliament has 736 members it represents all 27 members of the EU, even though it is not strictly part of the UK Parliament it still has an impact on our daily lives. 72 of these members are elected from the UK, they represent our country interest. They draft legislation which affects all of the EU member’s countries. They focus all parts from consumer rights to the task of protecting people being killed from dictators and militias. They also attempt to raise country's economic standing and try to develop countries so they are self-sufficient. The European Parliament is the only directly elected by EU body and it represents the people of the EU. Elections have been held every five years since 1979. The last elections were in May 2014. Before that members were chosen from national parliament. The parliament amends, approves or rejects EU laws, together with the Council of Ministers. The parliament also shares authority over the EU budget with the Council of Ministers and supervises other EU institutions, including the Commission.
Two of the main responsibilities of the European parliament (EP) are immigration and environment.
Immigration -
The European parliaments control the inflow of migrants that go into each country, and how many of the migrants go into each country. Their objective is to set up a balanced approach in dealing with legal migration and fighting illegal immigration. Parliament actively supports the introduction of a European immigration policy. The reason the European parliament have this responsibility is to make sure Europe runs smoothly. With the control of immigration they can control the exact amount of migrants each country get. The advantage of this being in the hands of the EP is that each country that is a part of the EU does not have to worry as much and then they can spend more time and money on more pressing matters. The disadvantage of the EP being in control of immigration is that they may decide that one county takes in a lot of migrants but that country may be struggling with other things such as unemployment, homelessness crime and other such entities.

Environment -
Another responsibility is the environment, as they are in charge of laws and legislations that affect the whole of the European Union; they have set certain laws for each European country to abide by. For example over the next few days (29th November to 11 December) officials from nearly 200 countries are meeting in Paris to come up with a new international climate agreement that will hopefully introduced by the year 2020, this shows one example of the European parliament achieving one of their responsibilities. It is the responsibility of the European government is so that they can try and control the environment across the whole of Europe, if they introduce any laws that are in place to protect the environment it will help decrease global warming/climate change.

Central government responsibilities;
The central government is parliament they take the role of running the country. They make international relationships, by treaties and other agreements. They design and make the laws which we live by, and finally they defend our nation. Even though this sounds simple it is far from it. Parliament consists of three sections. These are House of Lords and House of commons. The house of commons is Green, plus the House of lords is Red, and finally Her Majesty the Queen.
The UK’s tax and customs authority, this is responsible for making sure that the money is available to fund the UK’s public services and for helping families and individuals with targeted financial support. Through customs service they facilitate legitimate trade and protect our economic, social and physical security.
The first responsibility I am going to cover is Defence - Central government is responsible for the defence of the UK, currently with the conservatives in government the Secretary of state for defence is Michael Fallon, He is the MP (Member of Parliament) that controls where the defence budget is spent and how it is utilised for the armed forces. The defence secretary is responsible for the equipment and welfare of any and all military personnel. Also responsible for international relations including lead for NATO (North Atlantic Treaty organisation).

The House of Commons- The House of Commons do many things, one of these is law making, nearly half of their work is law making. This can affect the public services and the people enormously. The public services have to follow the laws they are set, if they break they will suffer the consequences, plus the laws which are set can make it harder for, the services to do their job. They also control the finance of the country, through taxation and the selling of government assets, Government assets include the public services this is where George Osborne the exchange of the exchequer comes in. Due to the work they do, they control scrutiny. Which makes sure the Government is doing their jobs properly.
Delegated legislation is used because they don’t have the time to debate and pass laws, so they introduce a parent law, which gives power to local councils, that’s why councils have power , but they are controlled by central government e.g. Parliament. The House of Commons also examines all European laws passed to see if they will impact the UK.
The House of Lords- The House of Lords have many of roles they fulfil. They do a lot of what the House of Commons does. One of their roles and responsibilities is law creation, around 60% of their work is law creation, and this means they spend more time on laws than anything else. The House of Lords also use scrutiny to make sure the government is kept in check, for this they use questioning and criticism to do this. Independent expertise is another large part of the lords’ roles. They use their expertise which effects Government business .They also conduct a lot of investigations and Probe’s.
Education –
They are responsible for the teaching and learning of children in primary schools and young people under 19 in secondary schools and further education. They also have to help the teachers whom work with those in education, as well as helping children with disabilities or learning difficulties.

Foreign office –
In this department, they are entrusted with the following: safeguarding the UK’s security, increasing exports, investments and resources; and supporting British Nationals worldwide through modern services. This department is a controlled by the Central Government to maintain the UK’s resources and keep the UK safe. They have this responsibility because they are able to bring in resources the UK desperately needs, and gain money by selling pearls, gems and coins. As well as: Mineral fuels, plastics, machinery and electronic equipment.
Health –
This department is responsible for the health and wellbeing of everyone in the country. Here, they are responsible for: Providing funding, assuring the delivery and accounting to Parliament which shows the best interests of a patient; Support research, promote honesty and creating a culture that values compassion and encourages staff to understand and learn from people’s experience of health and apply it to all cases. In this department, it is essential that a government close to home controls this. That is because they need to make sure they are providing enough funding for machinery and staff, as well as food for the Hospitals. As well as this, they need to be able to keep funding the NHS. If the NHS was to stop, there would be a massive uproar from citizen as it is a basic and easy way for under 18’s to receive help. Encouraging them to manage money more carefully.
Transport –
They have many responsibilities within this department. These include: providing funding to local authorities so they are able to keep buses, trains and trams running; funding in the maintenance and operation of motorways, planning the direction for the rail industry and therefore improving buses and keeping up high standards of safety and security in transport.
Home security –
In this department, they are responsible for: working on problems caused by drug use; keeping the UK safe from terrorism; reducing crime; securing the UK border, issuing passports and visas and considering applications to enter and stay in the UK.

Work & pensions -
They are also responsible for dealing with the causes of poverty; encouraging people to work; encouraging disabled people to work; providing income for people in retirement, and reducing work-related death and injuries.

Devolved parliament
Devolution is a system where power from the central government is given to organisation of regional Government or an elected body lower down the hierarchy chain. Also it transfers the roles and responsibilities. So as an example the Government gives power to East Sussex counsel to keep the roads clean and safe, that is then there responsibility. This makes it easier to run the country and not neglect a region. So it moves the power from London to another region to allow them to make there region an acceptable to the residents because central government will be a different lifestyle to those who live in a coastal town. However Devolution is expensive and they body's lack the diction making expertise of the central government.
Welsh assembly - The welsh assembly are responsible for things such as education, Health, local government, transport, planning, economic development, social services, culture, Welsh language, Environment and agriculture and rural affairs. But their main role is to make various decisions regarding those matters for the whole of wales, to develop policies and implement them and to propose welsh laws (Assembly Bills).
Scottish parliament - The Scottish parliament are responsible for Health, education and training, local government, social work, housing, planning, tourism, economic development and financial help to industry, some parts of transport including the Scottish road system, bus policy and ports and harbours, law and home affairs, including most aspects of criminal and civil law, the prosecution system and the courts, the Police and Fire services, the environment, natural and built heritage, agriculture, forestry and fishing, sport and the arts, statistics and public registers and records. The Scottish Parliament debates topical issues and passes laws on devolved matters affecting Scotland. It is made up of 129 elected Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs).

Northern Irish assembly - The Northern Ireland Assembly are responsible for making legislation. The Northern Ireland Assembly is a devolved legislature. This means it has the power to make laws, or legislate, on issues that affect the everyday lives of people in Northern Ireland. These issues are called Transferred or Devolved Matters. MLAs represent the people who live in the area that they were elected to represent–their constituency. When carrying out their roles, MLAs consider the views of their constituents. They press for government action on issues of concern in their constituency. Most MLAs also represent a political party. They are obliged to follow the party line on many issues, even if it is not popular with their own constituents. These all break down into small group which look after their smaller region. In England there are eight smaller sub sections. There is also London but that has it own subsystems because it has the Greater London Authority, this is a city wide form of Government. However these smaller sections consist of around 30% local business, religious groups and environment parties. The other 70% is given to elected local authority councillor’s .They will plan the regions strategies, monitor the area and make housing priorities to the Central Government.

Regional governments and Local authorities’ responsibilities;
County – East Sussex County Council
The east Sussex county council is responsible for children and families consisting of child protection, looking after children in care and improving the prospects for vulnerable children. Learning and schools effectiveness which involves improving pupil achievement, providing school places and home to school transport. Also they are responsible for communities, economy and transport including road maintenance, economic development and environment.
An example and responsibility of a Local Authority is the Hastings Borough Council where they take care of the Local Environment. Within this, they will: clean the streets collect rubbish and recycling and will maintain street lights. As well as this, they provide a cemetery, pay out housing benefits, collect Tax and manage all local, national and European Elections.

District/Boroughs – Rother, Hastings, Eastbourne, Lewes & Wealden
Each county is divided into several districts. District councils, which may also be called borough councils or city councils if the district has borough or city status, cover a much smaller area and provide more local services. District Councils are responsible for housing, leisure and recreation, environmental health, waste collection, planning applications and local taxation collections.
Parish Councils
Councillors are elected and carry out the day to day running of an area. They make decision on local affairs such as public transport, education and public services, by doing this they try to make a better quality of life for the people who live in it. They also promote and speak for the locals. And finally they plan policies which will help their constituents. They can do this due to devolution.
Parish Councils are responsible for things such as Allotments, Burial Grounds, Cemeteries, Churchyards and Crematoria, Bus Shelters, Public clocks can be provided and must be maintained, Community Centres, Conference Centres, Halls, Public Buildings, Drainage of ditches and ponds, Footpaths, Highway lighting, parking places, right to enter into discussions about new roads and road widening, consent of parish council required for diversion or discontinuation of highway, traffic signs and other notices, tree planting and verge maintenance, Land acquisition and sale of land, Provision of litter-bins and support for any anti-litter campaigns, Postal and Telecommunication Facilities, power to pay a public telecommunications operator any loss sustained in providing services in that area, Provision and maintenance of public toilets, Danger signs, place names and bus stops signs, Financial contributions to any local tourist organisations allowed and Traffic Calming. There a number of different government departments who are responsible for different Public Services. (P2, i) The Department for Health is responsible for the NHS, Ambulance Crews and Paramedics. This department is accountable for the running of NHS. The Health Secretary in charge is Jeremy Hunt. They are responsible for the working conditions and the pay and target times for ambulances. They also have the largest budget. There are two categories for the target times, Red 1 and Red 2. 75% of patients must be reached within 8 minutes, and 95% must be reached in 19 minutes. The Ministry of Defence is responsible for the Army, Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. The secretary of state for Defence is in charge of this department; Michael Fallon is the current role holder. The Ministry of Defence, or MOD, decides the budgets, policies and the best equipment but as cheap as possible. It also determines payment and conditions, the unit strength and deployment. There are three policies, for example carrying out the commitments of the armed forces covenant. This is where they make sure that the servicemen and women, veterans and families are not affected negatively as a result as an individual being in this service. The Home Office is accountable for the Police, Passports and immigration, Drug Policies and Counter-terrorism in the UK. The person in charge of this department is Home Secretary Theresa May. In Policing, the home office’s priorities are to encourage the public to realise that the Police are responsible for cutting crime and to allow the police to fight crime more effectively and efficiently by having lower level police deal with petty crimes. For the Passports and Immigration, their responsibilities and priorities are to secure the UK borders; control and reduce immigration and they consider applications of those who wish to stay in the UK. Finally, the last Department is Communities and Local Government which is responsible for Fire and Rescue, Housing, Local Government and Planning. The Fire and Rescue are responsible for allocating funds to local government to fund Fire and Rescue, they create and develop National policies and develops priorities for the FAR services.

(P2, ii) Through this organisation, it checks that the Fire Service are of a good quality by ensuring they are able to complete tasks with to correct equipment; as well, by ensuring they have what is needed in priorities. The main priorities of the Fire Authority is to provide a Fire Service, and make sure it is efficient and successful , provide a high level of training, to provide a source of communication, to ensure that water supplies are available and to provide fire safety advice.

There are numerous ways for HM Inspectorates and local organisations to ensure the Public Services are up to standards. One of these ways is through the Independent Police Complaints Commission or IPCC. This organisation files through complaints from the Public about the Police in England Wales. It also places regulations for dealing with complaints. This establishment is completely separate from the Police; and the choices the IPCC make have no influence from the Government or Police. The IPCC investigates these complaints against the Police and works out whether the Officer or Staff was at fault, or if they were doing their job correctly. In November 2012, by the public, Katy Bourne was elected as the Chief Constable. Within the SPCC, she is entrusted with the performance of the Police. As well as this, she manages the strategic direction and priorities and provides high quality support services to victims. Lastly, she is expected to provide safety to the community. The SPCC ensures the Police are of a high standard by setting these goals and making sure the Police are providing what is needed for a safer, happier community.