The Responsibilities of the Different Levels of Government

The responsibilities of The different levels of Government

By Boidul N Khan

The European Parliament

The European parliament has a important influence on EU (European Union) residents and their public services, however the European parliament does not play a vital part in the UK levels of Government. There are approximately 736 members of the parliament and these 736 members represent all 27 countries that state the EU. 72 members of the parliament are elected from the UK and these members are there to represent the interests of our country. The main role of the parliaments is to draft legislations that have a impact across all the EU states on matters such as:

• Environmental Issues• Equal Opportunities• Transport problems• Consumer Rights• Movement of workers and goods

The Central Government

The Central Government is the layer of Governments that function across the country. The location of the central government is in the capital city of the country. There are many specific responsibilities that the central government carry out and these responsibilities cannot be carried out by any other level of government. These responsibilities may include, signing treaties or agreements with other nations, making laws and protecting the nation.

The central government of the UK is situated in London at the Palace of Westminster. The House of Commons and the House of Lords are two of the major central political organizations in the UK. When these two major central political organisation are together with the ruling monarch then these organisations are known as Parliament that passes legislation.

Devolved Parliaments

Devolution is known as a process in which the whereby power is transferred from a centralised governmental organisation to a regional organisation. Below are the three main elements of devolution:

• Power is transferred to another elected body that is lower down the group of authorities

• The geographical transfer of power from the capital to other cities or town

• Roles and responsibilities of the government are transferred from central to regional assemblies.

There are three main regional assemblies that have devolved power in the UK and they are; the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Local Authorities

The county councils, the metropolitan councils, district and parish councils are the different types of local government. All these councils focus on providing services and facilities in local areas that require certain service or facilities but the roles and responsibilities of these councils sometime overlap.

Regional Governments

Regional Government is a form of government where judgements about what happens in a specific county are made at local level.

The Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 had created eight assemblies in England. In these eight assemblies are listed below:

• North East Assembly• East Midlands Regional Assembly• East of England Regional Assembly• South East England Regional Assembly• West Midlands Regional Assembly• South West Regional Assembly• North West Regional Assembly• Yorkshire and Humber Assembly However London has its own regional system that works differently compared to the ones that are listed above.

Role of Regional Assemblies

Regional assemblies carry out four important roles and they are presented below:

• Regional Planning are in charge for developing, monitoring and reviewing the regional planning's and transport schemes.

• Regional housing is when suggestions are given to the government about housing priorities in their area.

• Advocacy and Policy Development is when a voice for the regions in parliament is provided at European Level. In addition, regional partnerships are promoted.

• Accountability is the repetitive checking and monitoring of regional development agencies.

The Monarchy

A monarchy is when a King or Queen is the Leader of the state. The UK is known as a constitutional monarchy and this means that the Leader of the state is the current reigning monarch, even though laws are made and permitted by an elected Parliament. The monarch of UK is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second who has been the Monarch since the past 60 years.

Even though the Queen does not have a managerial or political role, she still plays an important part in the nations welfare. The Queen undertakes several constitutional and formal duties such as opening each new session of parliament, provide advice and guidance to the Prime Minister and the disinterment of peers.

House of Commons

There are 646 elected members of MP’s in the house of commons who represent a comprehensive field of political parties. In England there are 529 MPS’s who represent the constituencies based in England, 40 members represent the constituencies in Wales, 59 Members represent the constituencies in Scotland, and 18 members represent the constituencies in Northern Ireland. The main responsibility of the house of commons is to pass on laws and legislations.

House of Lords

There are currently 737 number of members that consist within the house of lords and there are many different types of lords that consist within this association. It is the second chamber of the UK parliament and it is separate from the House of Commons. Tasks of producing law and shaping the laws are shared out by the lords. Checking and challenging the work of the government is also a task that is shared out by the house of lords. The house of lords have three main roles and they are, producing laws, in-depth consideration of public policy and holding government to account.

Executive branch of Government

There are three different types of governmental branches and executive is one of the branches of the government. Proposals of new laws are carried out by the executive branch and also they have the responsibility to make certain that laws that already exist are applied properly. The power of the executive branch is used in the government department and the civil service, individuals that have to cope with the day to day running of the state. there are two different coloured pares that represent two different things. The white print of paper which are used to produce blueprints for the potential laws. The green paper is used to represent the suggested laws.

Legal Branches of Government

The legislative branch of government have the power to produce new laws. There is a multi-stage procedure that the parliaments must o through in order to make the laws. Also the parliament has the legislative will power to mend the old laws as well as produce new laws.

Judicial Branch of Government

Judicial branch of government have the authority to interpret laws that have been produced and also if laws have been broken then they are able to make unbiased verdicts about that. This type of authority is given to the court system and is applied by all the judges situated in the court of UK.

All these three governmental branches work in partnership to confirm the even running and stability of the nation.

Prime Minsters (PM)

The roles that are carried out by the PM are quiet difficult and challenging because it involves a variety of managerial, bureaucratic and public responsibilities . These may include:

• Allocation of obligations to ministers • To give out honours• Produce agendas for Governmental businesses

In addition when the PMs are employing ministerial posts, they have to take in to accounts of the advice given to them by their seniors and make certain that the individual that they have employed are experienced enough to carry out the job and do not produce any considerable political inequity.

THE MAIN ROLES AT GOVERNMENT LEVELS

The form that the government is currently at is due to the effective work of the people who fulfil the important roles needed to make sure that the country works coherently and decisions are produced and applied. These roles include:

• Prime minister

• Government Ministers

• MPs

• Mayors

• Council Members

Government minister

The central committee of the British Government is operated by ‘the cabinet’ and they are the most 20 or so crucial ministers of the UK. The government ministers are the representative of both the chambers of parliaments. Terrorism is an issue that overlaps many of the government departments. Ministries try to work effectively on issues such as these and make sure that the overall government reaction is reasonable and offers good services to the people that are being served by them.

Members of Parliaments

The MPs work where they were elected, that is in the constituency also they work in the House of Commons. The members of the parliament mostly spend there time in working in the house of commons when there are parliament meetings. The MPs raise issues that have an affect on their constituents and also they attend discussions and vote on the new laws. In addition most of the MPs are members of committees and they look at certain topics in-depth. They may look at governmental policies and new laws and then move onto larger issues such as human rights.

Mayors

There are many roles and responsibilities that are carried out by the mayors and also they are usually selected for a time limit of 1 year and the roles they carry out are often ceremonial. The main roles of the mayor is to introduce the council in the community and in ceremonial events . Meetings of full council is chaired by the mayor and also they have a role in promoting areas and are the councils representative. Supporting charities and community groups are one of the main roles that are carried out by the mayor.

Council Members

In order to carry out the business of the council, the local community elects councillors so that they can conduct the business of council. The council members try to improve the living of individuals in their area that they are elected. The council members construct decisions about the local issues that individuals may face in the area. These issues may transport, education and public services. The councillors are often leaders of the community who help to promote charities in their area and community groups. One of the main roles of the council member is decide on the policies that may be implemented by the council. These policies that are implemented by the council may have an impact on ordinary citizens and the individuals who work in public services.

Ministry of Defence

The responsibility of the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air – Force is of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The ministry of defence is regulated by the Secretary of State Defence and by the three junior ministers and there are, the Ministry of State for the Armed Forces, the Under Secretary of sate and Ministry for Defence and Minister for Veterans. The Ministry of Defence takes decisions on what budgets, policy and procurement should be made for all three armed services. This conveys that the MOD has a great impact on all the three armed services because it decides on how the budget should be spent and they also take decisions of the locations of the services.

Ministry of Justice

The ministry of justice has wide ranges of responsibilities for the different parts of the system of justice - trial services, the courts, prisons and attendance centres. They function in order to protect citizens and decrease the reoffending. It also works in order to provide effective, clear and responsive criminal justice system for victims and the community. Furthermore the ministry of justice is also in charge of producing new laws, strengthening the democracies and protecting the human rights. 

The Home Office Services such as the police, passports and immigration service and drugs policies are the main primary responsibilities of the Home Office. The United Kingdoms Home Office is leaded by a group of five ministers and the main Home Secretary. Passport and Immigration is one of the five team members of the ministers that help to lead the Home Office. Identity and passport service is one of the division of the Passport and Immigration. This division is responsible for activities such as passport renewals for the existing passports, and other activities include the changes to name in the passport. There are two other divisions within this category and they are, Immigration and Asylum and Visas. Drugs and Alcohol, Counter Terrorism, Crime, and the Police and Passport and Immigration services are the group of five ministers that lead the United Kingdoms Home Office.

http://www.britishcitizenshiptest.co.uk/UK-today/home-office.aspx

Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG)

The Department of Communities and Local Government co-ordinate to move the decision making power from the Central Government to the Local Councils. By doing this, they are able to put the communities in responsibility of planning, helps to increase the liability and helps citizens realise where their money is being spent. The Department of Communities and Local Government are responsible for assisting the local government by giving them the authority to act for their community – without the intrusion of the central Government. They are also accountable for aiding communities and neighbourhoods to solve their own problems and so this will help the neighbourhoods to become strong, attractive and prosperous. In order to help the public sector to expand the DCLG works with local enterprise partnerships and enterprise zones so that the public sector business can expand.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government/about

Reference

BTEC Level 3 Public Services Book 1

http://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/mps/