Central Government Flashcards
What is a Backbench MP?
Backbench MPs are MPs who are not ministers or junior ministers nor shadow ministers. They represent their constituents but are also usually members of a political
party.
They hold regular ‘surgeries’ to hear the views of their constituents and can take up issues on their behalf by writing to gov departments and ministers.
Back benchers are paid £79,468 per annum plus allowances to employ staff and run a constituency office. They take part in debates and votes in the commons and can raise issues through Early Day Motions, Urgent Debates and Adjournment debates.
They can ask oral questions at the prime ministers question time and other ministerial question times.
They can introduce legislation through the private members bill and they’re usually chosen by ballot to do this.
They can be elected to select committees which is a group of backbenchers that scrutinise the work of particular departments e.g. Home Affairs select committee.
They can be elected to Bill Committees which is a group of backbenchers who scrutinise the work of a particular bill as it passes through the commons.
Government ministers (MPs)
Of the 100 or so MPs appointed ministers, only about 20 of the most senior are members of the Pms inner circle - The Cabinet.
Those ministers that head a department are usually known as ‘Secretaries of State’.
Government ministers are expected to adhere to the doctrine of “collective responsibility” - this means publicly supporting the governments policy even if they privately disagree with it. For example, Robin Cook resigned from the Cabinet because he opposed the Iraq war in 2003.
Government ministers are expected to adhere to the doctrine of “individual ministerial responsibility” which means they have to take responsibility for the actions of their department and should resign if a serious error is made. For example, Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington resigned from the Cabinet over the invasion of the Falkland Islands 1982
Parliament
The Uk has a ‘bi-cameral’ system of government with two legislative chambers; the HOC (lower house) and HOL (upper house).
Legislation (bills) must be passed by both the HOC and HOL before they receive the Royal Assent and become law.
HOC
650 elected members (MPs)
The largest party usually forms the government
About 100 form the government by being appointed minsters or junior ministers (the executive)
The second largest party becomes the official Opposition and appoints a Shadow Cabinet
The rest are backbench MPs.
Whips are MPs appointed to maintain party discipline among their fellow MPs.
Following the 2009 expenses scandal a new body, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) was set up to regulate MPs salaries and expenses. 2009 Mps expenses scandal - Former Tory MP Sir Peter Viggers claimed expenses for an island to house the ducks in his pond.
The speaker is an MP who is supposed to be politically neutral and who chairs the debates.
Hansard is the official record of parliamentary business.
HOL
Not elected - consists of about 800 members
The lords is now one of the largest legislatures in the world. The upper house in the US the Senate, has 100 members serving a population 5x the size of the UKs
Includes 26 Church of England clergy, 92 Hereditary Peers and the rest are Life Peers. Peers not affiliated to a party are known as ‘crossbenchers’
Plans for reform to create a partially elected chamber were abandoned in 2011 following disagreements between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
Passage of a bill
Bills can be introduced in either the Commons or the Lords, but it is usually the commons.
The stages are:
Green Paper - rough draft of the idea sent out for consultation
White paper - firmer outline of the proposed law
First Reading- Title of the bill is read out on the floor of the commons
Second reading - Bill is debated in the commons
Committee stage - bill is scrutinised by a committee of backbenchers
Report stage - committee reports back with its recommendations for amendments
Third reading - the bill is debated in its final form
The government can impose a ‘guillotine’ to speed up the passage of the Bill.
If the Commons passes the Bill it passes to HOL
The Lords can suggest amendments that have to be accepted by the commons.
The Lords cannot delay a Money Bill (e.g. Finance Bill after the budget)
The Lords can delay other legislation for a maximum of 13 months.
Once the Bill is approved it receives the Royal Assent and becomes the law of the land
Who is the Prime minister?
The Prime Minister is the leader of the government (Boris Johnson) and usually lives at number 10 Downing Street. Collectively the PM and his/her ministers form the executive branch of the government.
What are the Prime ministers main duties?
Include:
Appointing ministers
Chairing meetings of the Cabinet
Meeting the Queen every week
Declaring War (nominally the Monarch can do this but in reality its the PM)
Appointing senior judges, Church of England Clergy, peerages and other honours
Recommending the dissolution of Parliament for a General Election
Attending Prime Ministers Question time each week to answer questions from Mps
Writing the Queens Speech, outlining Bills to be introduced to Parliament
The Civil Service
Civil servants are permanent employees of the government who are expected to be politically neutral.
Politicians (ministers and MPs) decide on policy, the civil servants implement that policy.
The rule is ‘advisers advise and ministers decide”
Each department is headed by a senior civil servant known as a “permanent secretary.”
Civil servants don’t change at election time - they are expected to work with whatever politicians the voters see fit to elect.
The Treasury
The most senior minister in the Treasury is the Chancellor of the Exchequer (currently Rishi Sunak)
He controls the fiscal policy - that is tax and spending
He also controls the national debt - £1,876.8 billion at the end of 2020
He is responsible for managing unemployment and inflation
Where does government money come from?
Direct taxes - taxes on income - includes taxes taken directly from salaries such as income tax and national insurance, plus company taxes such as corporation tax (a tax on company profits) and capital gains tax (a tax on certain items if there has been an increase in value)
Direct taxes are said to be progressive, in the way that they are based on the ability to pay - the rich pay more than the poor.
Indirect taxes are based on consumption and include such things as sales tax (VAT), alcohol, fuel and tobacco duty, green taxes on energy bills.
These are said to be regressive, in that they are not based on the ability to pay - the poor pay the same as the rich
Debt and deficit
Deficit - If the government spends more than it takes in revenue, the difference between the two figures is the annual deficit.
Debt is the accumulation of all the deficits.
UK government spending
The UK gov spent £672bn in 2010 and will spend approx £848bn in 2020/21
Uk gov spending is increasing despite austerity measures and some cuts to individual departmental budgets.
The Uk government has revenues (mainly tax receipts) of about £811bn in 2020/21
The difference between those two figures (that is income and expenditure) around £37bn in 2020/21 that needs to be borrowed and is the annual deficit.
This is added to the deficits we’ve run up in previous years to give us the total debt - around £1.9 trillion and rising.
This is about 84% of GDP (a measure used by economists to compare the scale of debt in different countries)
We pay about £50bn a year in interest payments 2020/21
Ratings agencies (e.g. Standard and Poor’s) give countries a rating based on their ability to pay the debt back. Lenders use these ratings to set interest rates to various countries (the UK currently has the top AAA rating so we can borrow money comparatively cheaply)
Spending departments - 2020/21 figures
Health - £161bn Pensions and sickness benefits - £162bn Welfare- £126bn Education - £91bn Debt interest - £51bn Defence - £50bn Public order (police) - £33bn Transport - £35bn
Where the money comes from - 2020/21 figures
Income tax - £193bn National Insurance - £142bn VAT - £156bn Excise duties (on petrol, alcohol, tobacco) - £50bn Corporation tax (on company profits)- £60bn Council Tax - £36bn Business rates - £31bn Borrowing-£32bn
The Budget
Each autumn the Chancellor makes a Budget speech to the HOC.
He reports on the performance of the economy over the previous 12 months and gives the outlook for the next 12 months.
He sets out plans for taxes and spending.
This is proceeded in the spring by the Spring Statement or a Pre Budget Review.
Every three years the Chancellor also publishes a Comprehensive Spending Review giving plans over a longer period.
The Budget Speech is accompanied by a Finance Act to implement the Chancellors plans.
The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR)
Was set up in 2010 by George Osbourne
Its responsible for economic forecasts and its politically neutral and independent of government.
The Bank of England (made independent by Gordon Brown) is responsible for monetary policy- that is setting interest rates.
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England - a group of 9 economists - sets interest rates.
Quantitative Easing - Bank of England buys bonds from retail banks to increase liquidity (the amount of money available) and reduce lending costs to industry and individuals.
Key words - treasury and economics
Gross Domestic Product GDP - The market value of all the goods and services produced by a county.
Recession - two successive quarters when the economy (GDP) shrinks.
Growth - when GDP (the economy) rises, increasing employment and prosperity.
Inflation - an increase in prices and a fall in the purchasing value of money.
Consumer Price Index/Retail Price Index - measures of inflation using a basket of about 650 items.
Balance of trade - the difference between total imports and total exports
What are austerity measures?
Austerity measures are reductions in government spending, increases in tax revenues, or both. These harsh steps are taken to lower budget deficits and avoid a debt crisis.
1944 Education Act
Established a tripartite secondary schools system:
Grammar schools for the academically able
Technical Schools for the technically able
Secondary modern Schools - for everyone else
Children took exams in their last year of primary school – the 11 Plus – to determine which school they would attend. In practice the technical schools never really took off and the system became a two tier structure of grammars and secondary moderns.
Comprehensive system
Throughout the 1960s and 70s Labour and Conservative governments chipped away at the tier system in favour of the Comprehensive System, where pupils of all abilities were taught together.
The conversion of grammars into comprehensive schools continued under Conservative governments and today just 164 selective grammar schools survive.
David Cameron and Theresa May grammars
David Cameron’s government ruled that no new grammars could be established but current ones could expand (e.g. Sevenoaks grammar school in Kent)
Theresa May lifted the ban on new grammars and Philip Hammond’s March 2017 Budget set aside £320m to expand the free school programme and create 140 new schools, some of which may be selective. But this pledge was abandoned following the June 2017 election.
Local Education Authorities
Since 1901 Local Education Authorities (LEAs) have been responsible for running schools and providing some democratic oversight through elected councillors. Originally LEAs were the county councils. They still are in two-tier authorities. Unitary authorities, like Sheffield, are also LEAs.
1988 Conservative Education Reform Act
In the recent years the powers of the LEA have diminished:
1988 Conservative Education Reform Act established Grant Maintained Schools that could opt out of local authority control.
The Act also introduced the National Curriculum
In 2000 the Labour gov introduced City Academies, established in partnership with private companies using PPP/PFI schemes and specialising in particular subjects like languages, sport or sciences, usually targeted at struggling schools in deprived areas.
They managed their own admissions and could select 10% of pupils by aptitude.
