What Role Do Local Authorities Play In The Society
LG:
Local Authorities play an important role in the society we live in. They have been set up by central government to make it easier to provide a vast variety services to the people. Local authorities or councils as they are also known, are made up of elected councillors, which are voted in by the people of the local area (thepeoplesbudget,2014).
Local authorities have been split into a range of unitary and two tier councils. Unitary governments tend to be in the larger town and cities in England. They take on the responsibility of providing all the services to the people in their area. Two tier structures tend to be in slightly smaller areas like counties and districts, where they are responsible for wider spread services. There is also parish and town councils that operate in rural and smaller towns but they tend to provide smaller services like sports hall and liaise with counties and districts to provide higher services (thepeoplesbudget,2014). …show more content…
Many local authorities are responsible for the overall welfare of their specific area.
They are bound by law to carry out certain types of services. Not all the functions are carried out by the local authority; some are controlled by central government. Central government normally take control over the local authorities with taxes (thepeoplesbudget,2014).
Local governments are given individual portions of money to help provide services to their area by central government. Local authorities tend to spend around a quarter of the public spending in the UK. Central government decide on how much a specific authority get by calculating the value and number of houses in that area then decide on how much services would cost.
(thepeoplesbudget,2014).
CG:
Government runs the country. At the head of the government is the Prime Minister who currently is David Cameron. He is responsible for important decisions like going to war or sending troops to certain areas. Beneath David Cameron there is the Cabinet who meet every Tuesday to discuss the important issues of the week. The cabinet are made up of the heads of each specific department. There is the likes of the secretary of Defence, Chancellor of the Exchequer and the secretary of health (Gov, 2014).
Parliament is slightly different to the Government as they have are the highest sovereign legislators in the UK. Meaning that no courts in the country can overrule them, but they uphold and enforce the laws set by parliament. However, Parliament act and make laws as they please. They are also bound by European law who can set laws to all there member states (Grant,2009). Parliament consists of MP’s and they have the ability to question the work of the government and can examine, debate and approve new laws. Parliament acts as a mediator between the government and the public by asking questions to any laws that they put forward (parliament, 2014).
The government are facing problems and challenges of being too London centric. Many MP’s, businesses and the general public are not happy with the fact that the majority of legislation and laws are being passed for the whole country in London. Neil Rami, chief executive for marketing in Birmingham has been an active campaigner for businesses not to become London centric (YorkshirePost,2013).
"Regional cities need the backing of Government - fast-tracking plans for more economic autonomy, spreading regeneration funds and ensuring major infrastructure projects like HS2 are delivered will help us attract more investors and rebalance the economy away from a quickly overheating capital." (YorkshirePost,2013)
A poll conducted by YouGov showed that 4,000 people from across 16 major cities in the UK felt that London affects their life. The same poll found that 64% of the people polled said that parliament’s decisions were too focused on London. Only 17% of people felt the government respond to issues in their area (ITV, 2014).
To combat the issue of the government being London Centric many are in favour of devolution just like Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Devolution would mean that certain powers would be taken by local authorities in cities so local areas could improve and sustain better use of the government rather than being dependent on London to make decisions for them. London would also benefit from devolution as they could concentrate more on London which has the biggest population in the United Kingdom. If certain powers were given to councils around the country they would have more time to improve the area around them (totalpolitics, 2014).
Every five years the public have their say on who they want running the country. They decide by voting in the general elections. The candidates they choose may be from a registered political party or they may stand as an Independent. Each candidate will produce a manifesto where they lay out plans of what they would do if they get elected (Short, 2014)
The UK uses the First Past the Post system when it comes to voting. Meaning to win the election the candidate must win just over half the seats in parliament. Parliament has 650 seats, so to get the majority a candidate would need to win 326 seats. Voters only get to vote for one candidate. Many voters feel that their vote is wasted if there candidate doesn’t win. With the FPP system it also means that you can win the election without having the majority of seats in parliament. Many feel that Proportional Representation is the voting system that should be in place, so that no vote is wasted. Instead of voting for just the one candidate you would mark down the candidate in order of preference (kavanagh, 1998).
Voting:
Voter participation is becoming a serious problem in elections. In the 2001 elections only 59% of eligible voters voted which was 12% down on the number of people that voted in 1997. What was even more damaging to the government in 2001 was that over seven million people voted in the Big Brother final, with the majority of voters being under the age of 35. When we look at the same age group for how many voted in the elections that took place a month before we see that 41% of 18-24 year old and 44% of 25-34 year olds voted in the elections (kavanagh 2006)
With the government struggling to connect with younger voters candidates might want to implement the strategy US President Barak Obama used in 2008 to get youth voters on his side. Obama went on talk shows and engaged in a way that appealed to the younger audiences (Katz 2012).
MTV in 1992 tried to get more young people voting by producing MTV’s Rock the Vote. The music channel ran with the slogan of “Choose or lose. If you don't vote for the candidate of your choice, someone else will choose for you."
They played 90 minute features on the candidates of that time to try and make young people vote (Mason, 1992)
Youth groups say that electoral institutions are out of date and fail to attract young people. The lack of moving with technological times have also been bandied around as a reason that young people and voting are drifting apart rather than getting closer. The National Union of Students have lobbied hard to get more electronic voting implemented as a way of getting young people to vote (Kimberlee, 2002)
Intro:
Conc:
Local Authorities play an important role in the society we live in. They have been set up by central government to make it easier to provide a vast variety services to the people. Local authorities or councils as they are also known, are made up of elected councillors, which are voted in by the people of the local area (thepeoplesbudget,2014).
Local authorities have been split into a range of unitary and two tier councils. Unitary governments tend to be in the larger town and cities in England. They take on the responsibility of providing all the services to the people in their area. Two tier structures tend to be in slightly smaller areas like counties and districts, where they are responsible for wider spread services. There is also parish and town councils that operate in rural and smaller towns but they tend to provide smaller services like sports hall and liaise with counties and districts to provide higher services (thepeoplesbudget,2014). …show more content…
Many local authorities are responsible for the overall welfare of their specific area.
They are bound by law to carry out certain types of services. Not all the functions are carried out by the local authority; some are controlled by central government. Central government normally take control over the local authorities with taxes (thepeoplesbudget,2014).
Local governments are given individual portions of money to help provide services to their area by central government. Local authorities tend to spend around a quarter of the public spending in the UK. Central government decide on how much a specific authority get by calculating the value and number of houses in that area then decide on how much services would cost.
(thepeoplesbudget,2014).
CG:
Government runs the country. At the head of the government is the Prime Minister who currently is David Cameron. He is responsible for important decisions like going to war or sending troops to certain areas. Beneath David Cameron there is the Cabinet who meet every Tuesday to discuss the important issues of the week. The cabinet are made up of the heads of each specific department. There is the likes of the secretary of Defence, Chancellor of the Exchequer and the secretary of health (Gov, 2014).
Parliament is slightly different to the Government as they have are the highest sovereign legislators in the UK. Meaning that no courts in the country can overrule them, but they uphold and enforce the laws set by parliament. However, Parliament act and make laws as they please. They are also bound by European law who can set laws to all there member states (Grant,2009). Parliament consists of MP’s and they have the ability to question the work of the government and can examine, debate and approve new laws. Parliament acts as a mediator between the government and the public by asking questions to any laws that they put forward (parliament, 2014).
The government are facing problems and challenges of being too London centric. Many MP’s, businesses and the general public are not happy with the fact that the majority of legislation and laws are being passed for the whole country in London. Neil Rami, chief executive for marketing in Birmingham has been an active campaigner for businesses not to become London centric (YorkshirePost,2013).
"Regional cities need the backing of Government - fast-tracking plans for more economic autonomy, spreading regeneration funds and ensuring major infrastructure projects like HS2 are delivered will help us attract more investors and rebalance the economy away from a quickly overheating capital." (YorkshirePost,2013)
A poll conducted by YouGov showed that 4,000 people from across 16 major cities in the UK felt that London affects their life. The same poll found that 64% of the people polled said that parliament’s decisions were too focused on London. Only 17% of people felt the government respond to issues in their area (ITV, 2014).
To combat the issue of the government being London Centric many are in favour of devolution just like Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Devolution would mean that certain powers would be taken by local authorities in cities so local areas could improve and sustain better use of the government rather than being dependent on London to make decisions for them. London would also benefit from devolution as they could concentrate more on London which has the biggest population in the United Kingdom. If certain powers were given to councils around the country they would have more time to improve the area around them (totalpolitics, 2014).
Every five years the public have their say on who they want running the country. They decide by voting in the general elections. The candidates they choose may be from a registered political party or they may stand as an Independent. Each candidate will produce a manifesto where they lay out plans of what they would do if they get elected (Short, 2014)
The UK uses the First Past the Post system when it comes to voting. Meaning to win the election the candidate must win just over half the seats in parliament. Parliament has 650 seats, so to get the majority a candidate would need to win 326 seats. Voters only get to vote for one candidate. Many voters feel that their vote is wasted if there candidate doesn’t win. With the FPP system it also means that you can win the election without having the majority of seats in parliament. Many feel that Proportional Representation is the voting system that should be in place, so that no vote is wasted. Instead of voting for just the one candidate you would mark down the candidate in order of preference (kavanagh, 1998).
Voting:
Voter participation is becoming a serious problem in elections. In the 2001 elections only 59% of eligible voters voted which was 12% down on the number of people that voted in 1997. What was even more damaging to the government in 2001 was that over seven million people voted in the Big Brother final, with the majority of voters being under the age of 35. When we look at the same age group for how many voted in the elections that took place a month before we see that 41% of 18-24 year old and 44% of 25-34 year olds voted in the elections (kavanagh 2006)
With the government struggling to connect with younger voters candidates might want to implement the strategy US President Barak Obama used in 2008 to get youth voters on his side. Obama went on talk shows and engaged in a way that appealed to the younger audiences (Katz 2012).
MTV in 1992 tried to get more young people voting by producing MTV’s Rock the Vote. The music channel ran with the slogan of “Choose or lose. If you don't vote for the candidate of your choice, someone else will choose for you."
They played 90 minute features on the candidates of that time to try and make young people vote (Mason, 1992)
Youth groups say that electoral institutions are out of date and fail to attract young people. The lack of moving with technological times have also been bandied around as a reason that young people and voting are drifting apart rather than getting closer. The National Union of Students have lobbied hard to get more electronic voting implemented as a way of getting young people to vote (Kimberlee, 2002)
Intro:
Conc: