Government Flashcards
Types of local council
- District councils (201)
- Unitary authorities (55)
- London boroughs (32)
- County councils (27)
- Metropolitan districts (36)
Two-tier authority
two tiers of local governance share power but have different responsibilities - usually county and district/borough
- most were around until 1990s, after that they merged to unitary authorities
Hybrid authority
where two-tier and unitary authorities co-exist
unitary authority
integrated approach to local governance, sole council for the area
- run all local services
- most were created after 1990s mergers
combined authority
where the resources of 2 or more councils are put together to allow neighbouring councils to collaborate
- additional funding
- eg manchester
metropolitan district
govern cities
- responsible for running most local services
- basically unitary authorities in bigger areas
- eg manchester
constitution
a system of fundamental principles
- recognised and accepted by civilians
- written or unwritten (eg USA written, UK unwritten)
UK unwritten constitution
statutes, common law, treaties, treatises
- Magna Carta: Charter of rights established by King John in 1215
- Bill of Rights (part of Parliament Act 1689)
parliamentary sovereignty
constitutional supremacy to parliament
- Bill of Rights 1689 gave parliament more powers than the king
constitutional monarchy
sovereign exercises power within limits set by constitution - prerogative powers
seperation of powers
executive = government (governs country)
legislature = parliament (debates laws)
judiciary = courts (decide whether laws are being followed)
parliamentary privilege
MPs can make accusations in houses without fear of prosecution for defamation (BoR 1689)
- the word ‘liar’ became unnaceptable during Brexit 2019
case law
laws decided on a case by case basis that become part of the constitution
treatises
texts written by scholars that gain such high status/regard that they become part of the constitution
treaties
international agreements
- eg NATO
- most are ‘membership agreements’ and not legally binding (countries can opt out)
- most are not part of the constitution
sources of funding the monarchy
- privy purse
- sovereign grant
- personal income
- royal estates
privy purse
income generated from the estate of the duchy of Lancaster - owned by the monarch
- worth £201m in 2017/18
sovereign grant
a tax-funded payment
- civil list and grants-in-aid
- covers day to day expenses and funding
- worth £86.3m in 2024-25
royal’s personal income
royals are free to work and earn income
- must pay income tax on it
- eg William and Harry part of the armed forces
devolution
the transfer/delegation of powers to a lower level, essentially by central government to local/regional administration
Government of Scotland Act 1998
Scotland received devolved powers over governance in country
- there were 2 more acts in 2012 and 2016
- SNP gaining majority in Scotland
- established the Scottish parliament
Government of Wales Act 2006
gave Wales devolved powers
- there were 2 more acts in 2014 and 2017
- established National Assembly for Wales
Northern Ireland devolution
peace agreement with DUP and Sinn Fein in 2007
- Northern Ireland received devolved powers
house of commons
first ‘lower’ house of parliament
- 650 members (elected)
- primary legislative chamber
- prime ministers questions
members of parliament
- represent a constituency
- usually belong to a party
- hold seats for 5 years
- shadow cabinet (opposition MPs)
- backbenchers
house of lords
second ‘upper’ house of parliament
- 800 members (not elected) sit by hereditary right or appointed by a politician
- 26 lords spiritual
primary legislation
- public bills (affect whole population)
- private bills (affect specific areas of population)
- hybrid bills (mix of two)
- private members bills (not introduced through government)
secondary legislation
powers which are given to ministers by acts of parliament allowing them to enact laws
- statutory instrument
chancellor of exchequer
oversees spending commitments
- manages fiscal policy, tax levels, investment into public services, national debt, the budget
how laws are made
- green paper
- white paper
- first reading in the house of commons (title)
- second reading in hoc (principles and vote)
- committee stage (discussed in detail)
- report stage (committee amendments)
- third reading in hoc (final time in commons)
- goes to house of lords (amendments)
- bill given royal assent by monarch
hansard
‘substantially verbatim’ report of what is said in parliament
e-petitions
members of the public can petition to house of commons and press for action
- 100,000 signatures are needed to debate
whips
MPs or members of house of lords appointed by a party to organise business and ensure voting the right way
- 3 line whip = underlining it 3 times, means it is urgent to attend vote (defying can lead to being expelled)
european union
- 27 states
- 449 million people
- used to be eec (european economic community)
rights of journalists to attend council meetings
- local government act 1985 = press and public have access to all council, committee and subcommittee meetings (unless info is confidential)
- local government act 2000 = limited press and public right to access meetings with ‘executive’ style decision making
- localism act 2011 = made councils hold all meetings in public (unless confidential)
‘confidential’ information in council meetings
- national security
- crime prevention
- negotiations
- info protected by legal privilege
- commercial/personally sensitive info
- secret government info/info legally prohibited by official secrets act
freedom of information act 2000
provides public access to info from public authorities
- obliged to publish certain info
- public entitled to request info (began in 2005)
environmental information regulations act 2004
public access to information about state of environment and hazards
the public interest
- detecting or exposing crime or threat of
- protecting public health and safety
- protecting public from being misled by an individual or organisation
- disclosing failure or likely failure to comply with an obligation
- disclosing a miscarriage of justice
making an FOI request
- check if info is already in public domain
- must be in writing (email/letter)
- include name and address
- specific and clear to authority
- they have 20 days to respond
elections
- held every 5 years
- MPs represent constituencies
- first past the post system = overall majority is needed (326 seats in house of commons)
- person with the most votes wins constituency, party with the most seats/constituencies wins the election
ministers
chosen by the Prime Minister from the members of the houses of commons or lords
- responsible for the actions, successes and failures of their departments
- can also enact laws
Executive style committee
Have a leader - either mayoral or leader model
Mayoral - directly elected mayor by local electorate and cabinet, powers held by mayor ho may delegate, elected every 4 years and not a councillor
Leader - councillor who is elected by full council for up to 4 years and cabinet, holds all powers but may delegate
Committee style committee
Does not have a leader and is comprised of councillors who collectively make decisions.
Powers are delegated and each has say on issues and decisions.
