State University of Moldova

Faculty of International Relations Political and Administrative Sciences

Report
British government

Student : Capmaru Serghei

Lecturer : Stejaru Selena

Chisinau 2015

Plan
 1st chapter : How government works………………………………………………page 1 -2

 2nd chapter : Who runs government : The Prime Minister …………………………page 3

How government works

In the UK, the Prime Minister leads the government with the support of the Cabinet and ministers.
You can find out who runs government and how government is run, as well as learning about
the history of government.

Parliament
Parliament is made up of 3 elements: The Queen, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
They meet together only on occasions of symbolic significance such as the State Opening of
Parliament, when the Commons are summoned by the Queen to the House of Lords.

The agreement of all 3 elements is normally required for legislation, but that of the Queen is given
as a matter of course.

House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament. It’s a democratically elected body
consisting of 646 members called Members of Parliament (MPs).
Each member is elected by and represents an electoral district of Britain known as a constituency.
The Prime Minister is an MP, and part of the House of Commons.

The House of Commons is where the MPs meet to debate Bills and issues affecting the country.

House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament, and here members called ‘Lords’ meet to
debate, change Bills and scrutinise the work of the Government.
Members of the House of Lords aren’t elected; they either inherit their title or are appointed by the
Government or shadow cabinet. The members consist of 2 archbishops and 24 bishops of the
Church of England ("Lords Spiritual") and 692 members of the Peerage ("Lords Temporal").

At the moment, the members of the 731 seat House of Lords currently outnumber the members of
the 646 seat House of Commons.

Both the House of Lords and the House of Commons are situated in the Houses of Parliament in
London’s Westminster.

The main functions of Parliament are:

 to pass laws;
 to provide, by voting for taxation, the means of carrying on the work of government;
 to scrutinise government policy and administration, including proposals for expenditure;
 to debate the major issues of the day.

Scotland has its own parliament, and Wales an elected Assembly, which sit in Edinburgh and
Cardiff respectively. Both Scotland and Wales remain part of the United Kingdom and have
continued representation in the Parliament at Westminster in London.

1
The State Opening of Parliament
The State Opening of Parliament is a grand affair full of tradition. Britain’s Parliament closes over
the summer months and the Houses of Parliament open to the public. Our government goes back to
work in November, and Parliament officially opens again. The State Opening for the 2009-2010
session takes place on 18 November.
For over 500 years, the ceremony has served as a symbolic reminder of the unity of Parliament’s 3
parts: the Queen, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

First off, the Queen arrives at the Houses of Parliament. She goes to the House of Lords, where
she’ll make her speech. Members of both the Lords and the Commons must be present for the
Queen’s Speech, but the Queen can’t enter the House of Commons due to its independence from the
Sovereign.

Next, one of the Queen’s officials called Black Rod (because of the black baton he carries) has to
summon the members of the Commons. He walks from the House of Lords through the Central
Lobby, which links the 2 Houses.

When Black Rod reaches the House of Commons, the door is slammed in his face and not opened
again until he has banged on the door with his baton and states his name. This is a symbol of the
Commons’ independence from the Queen.

The MPs then join Black Rod and walk through the Central Lobby to the House of Lords, where the
Queen gives her speech, setting out Parliament’s business for the coming year. Although the Queen
gives the speech, it’s actually the Government that draws up the content.

Once she’s finished her speech, the Queen leaves the Houses of Parliament and the government
goes back to work. After the ceremony, each House meets separately to discuss and debate the
contents of the Queen’s speech.

2
 Who runs government : The Prime Minister

The Prime Minister is head of the UK government. He is ultimately responsible for all policy and
decisions. He:
 oversees the operation of the Civil Service and government agencies
 appoints members of the government
 is the principal government figure in the House of Commons
The Prime Minister is David Cameron and he is based at Number 10 Downing Street in London.

The Cabinet
The Cabinet is made up of the senior members of government. Every week during Parliament,
members of the Cabinet (Secretaries of State from all departments and some other ministers) meet
to discuss the most important issues for the government.

Ministers

1 Prime Minister + 21 Cabinet ministers + 97 Other ministers = 119 Total ministers
Ministers are chosen by the Prime Minister from the members of the House of Commons and House
of Lords. They are responsible for the actions, successes and failures of their departments.

Government departments and agencies

Departments and their agencies are responsible for putting government policy into practice.

24 Ministerial departments 22 Non-ministerial departments 300+ Agencies & other public bodies

Government departments
Some departments, like the Ministry of Defence, cover the whole UK. Others don’t –
theDepartment for Work and Pensions doesn't cover Northern Ireland. This is because some aspects
of government are devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Non-ministerial departments are headed by senior civil servants and not ministers. They usually
have a regulatory or inspection function like the Charity Commission.

Executive agencies
These are part of government departments and usually provide government services rather than
decide policy - which is done by the department that oversees the agency.
An example is the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (overseen by theDepartment for
Transport).
Other public bodies
These have varying degrees of independence but are directly accountable to ministers. There are 4
types of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs).
Executive NDPBs do work for the government in specific areas - for example, the Environment
Agency.
Advisory NDPBs provide independent, expert advice to ministers - for example, the Committee on
Standards in Public Life.
Tribunal NDPBs are part of the justice system and have jurisdiction over a specific area of law - for
example, the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Independent monitoring boards are responsible for the running of prisons and treatment of prisoners
3
 Bibliography

I read and extract information from the following sources:

How government works

http://www.visitbritain.com/en/About-Britain/Government/

Who runs government : The Prime Minister

https://www.gov.uk/government/how-government-works