Executive Flashcards
What is the structure of the executive?
PM > Cabinet > Government Departments > Executive Agencies
What is the role of the PM?
- head of executive
- chairs cabinet
- manages cabinet agenda
- appoints all members of cabinet and junior ministers
- organises structure of government (e.g. can create, abolish, merge departments)
What is the role of the Cabinet?
- consists of 20 to 23 senior ministers
- administrative support and help in delivering policy
- many decisions taken in cabinet committees which deal with particular areas of policy such as economic affairs and national security
What is the role of government departments?
- each one responsible for an area of police e.g. Ministry of Defence, Department for Transport
- each headed by a cabinet minister
- supported by several junior ministers
What is the role of executive agencies?
- semi independent bodies that carry out some functions of government departments
Give an example of an executive agency
DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) is overseen by the Department for Transport
What are the main roles of the executive?
- proposing legislation
- proposing the budget
- making policy decisions
Explain the role of proposing legislation
- executive introduces proposals for new laws or amendments to existing laws
- has the power to introduce legislation to contend with emergencies
When does the executive announce its a new programme?
at the start of each parliamentary session in the Queen’s speech
Who does the executive interact with before proposing legislation?
ministers will often consult interested parties, such as pressure groups and professional bodies
we can use the example of the legalisation of same sex marriage and the 12 week consultation period
What was outlined in the 2015 Queen’s Speech by the Conservative Cameron Government?
- an in/out referendum on membership of the EU
- measures in devolved bodies would be taken only with the consent of MPs from those parts
- legislation to protect essential public services against strikes
What is a ‘doctor’s mandate’?
when a emergency occurs, such as the threat of terrorism, the executive has the power to introduce legislation to contend with it
just as a doctor would respond to a patient’s illness
How does the public react to the ‘doctor’s mandate’?
the public expect resolute action even if the situation that occurred was not referred to in a manifesto
Explain the role of proposing the budget
government needs to raise revenue to fund public services and to meet its spending priorities
Who creates the budget?
the chancellor of the exchequer in consultation with the PM and is then revealed to the rest of the Cabinet shortly before it is delivered
What is the budget?
an annual statement of the governments plans for changed to taxation and public spending
Explain the role of making policy decisions
the executive needs to decide how to give effect to its aims for the future direction of the country
Give examples of the policy decisions taken by the 2010-25 Coalition Government
Welfare: streamlining the welfare system by introducing single benefit for working age people (Universal Credit)
Education: allowing parents and voluntary groups to set up ‘free schools’ that are independent of local councils
Healthcare: introducing more competition into the NHS and putting GPs in control of the commissioning of care for patients
What are the main powers of the executive?
- royal prerogative powers
- initiation of legislation and secondary legislation
What does royal prerogative powers mean?
- powers that historically belonged to the crown
- over time these powers transferred to the PM / other ministers
What are the main prerogative powers ?
- sign treaties
- declare war / authorise use of armed forces
- take action to maintain order in case of emergency
- grant and withdraw passports
- grant legal pardons
- award honours
- appoint ministers and other senior office holders
How have prerogative powers been reformed?
since the parliamentary debate on the Iraq War in 2003 and the 2013 debate on air strikes in Syria
Governments have accepted that military action required prior parliamentary approval
What tools does the executive have to strengthen its hold over the passage of legislation?
- the guillotine (the allocation of time motion)
- the programming motion
What is ‘the guillotine’?
formally known as the ‘allocation of time’ motion
a procedure that allows the government to curtail debate on the individual clauses of a bill
Give an example of when the guillotine was attempted
Cameron government attempted to use the guillotine in a Lords debate on the redrawing of constituency boundaries
abandoned after opposition in 2011
What is the programming motion?
enables the executive to set out in advance the time limits for each stage in the passage of a bill
What is secondary legislation?
a law made without passing a new act of parliament
instead the government uses the powers created by an earlier act
What is the most common form of secondary legislation?
statutory instruments
What is the significance of secondary legislation?
enables a government to modify or repeat existing legislation without introducing a new bill
What have critics said about the growing use of statutory instruments?
opposition politicians and press commentators argued that the government was using this power to sneak changes through the back door
What were statutory instruments used to do in 2016?
- abolish maintenance grants for uni students
- allow fracking in national parks
What are ‘Henry VIII clauses’?
this is what statutory instruments are sometimes called
Why are statutory instruments sometimes called ‘Henry VIII clauses’?
because they enable the government to evade parliamentary scrutiny
What is the function of the civil service?
- exists to support government agenda
- advises ministers
- speaks truth to power
- manages government effectively
What is the nature of the civil service?
- anonymous
- meant to be impartial / politically neutral
- specialist knowledge
- permanent and unelected
How do civil servants differ to ministers?
- civil servants are anonymous and impartial
- civil servants do not have individual/collective responsibility so may not have to resign over a mistake
What is the role of Senior Civil Servants?
- departmental administration
- implementing policy / drawing up legislation
- policy consultations with interest groups
What did David Frost say about the civil service?
they were all closeted remaineers
What did Harold Wilson say about the civil service?
conspiracy theory that civil servants and the BBC were against the Labour party and Wilson
