number of people living in it. Local councils are unable to raise enough money in this way for them to provide the services which central government has told them to provide. In addition, recent governments have imposed upper limits on the amount of council tax that councils can charge and now collect the taxes on business properties themselves (and then share the money out between local councils). As a result, well over half of a local council's income is now given to it by central government. modern trend has been towards greater and greater control by central government. This is not just a matter of controlling the way local government raises money. There are now more laws governing the way councils can conduct their affairs. On top of this, schools and hospitals can now 'opt out' of local-government control. Perhaps this trend is inevitable now that national party politics dominates local politics. Successful independent candidates (candidates who do not belong to a political party) at local election are becoming rarer and rarer. Most people now vote at local elections according to their national party preferences, if they bother to vote at all, so that these elections become a kind of opinion poll on the performance of the national government.government servicesof the numerous services that a modern government provides are run at local level in Britain. These include public hygiene and environment health inspection, the collecting of rubbish from outside people's houses (the people who do this are euphemistically known as 'dustmen'). and the cleaning and tidying of all public places (which is done by 'street sweepers'). They also include the provision of public swimming pools, which charge admission fees, and public parks, which do not. The latter are mostly just green grassy spaces, but they often contain children's playgrounds and playing fields for sports such as football and cricket which can be reserved in advance on payment.libraries are another well-known service. Anybody can go into one of these to consult the books, newspapers and magazines there free of charge. If you want to borrow books and take them out of the library, you have to have a library card or ticket (these are available to people living in the area). Sometimes CDs and video cassettes are also available for hire. The popularity of libraries in Britain is indicated by the fact that, in a country without identity cards, a person's library card is the most common means of identification for someone who does not have a driving licence.are the oldest divisions of the country in England and Wales. Most of them existed before the Norman conquest. They are still used today for local government purposes, although a few have been 'invented' this century (eg Humberside) and others have no function in government but are still used for other purposes. One of these is Middlesex, which covers the western part of Greater London (letters are still addressed 'Middx') and which is the name of a top-class cricket team. Many countries have 'shire' in their name (eg Hertfordshire, Hampshire, Leicestershire). 'Shires' is what the counties were originally called. were originally towns that had grown large and important enough to be given their own government, free of control by the country. These days, the name is used for local government purposes only in London, but many towns still proudly describe themselves as Royal Boroughs. were originally villages centred on a local church. They became a unit of local government in the nineteenth century. Today they are the smallest unit of local government in England. name 'parish' is still used in the organization of the main Christian churches in England.
QUESTIONS
Why doesn , t Britain have a written constitutions? Does it need one?
The Crown: What are the powers of the monarch?
Westminster: Why did the Commons become more important than the lords? Draw a diagram showing the shape and layout of the House of Commons debating chamber. Give reasons why you think this arrangement is better or worse than the more common semi-circular debating chamber. The House of Lords: Do you think the Lords has become a more democratic institution after the Constitutional reform of 1999?
The electoral and party system: Does Britain have an adequate parliamentary electoral system? Explain the main difference between the Conservative and Labour Parties.
Whitehall: What does "cabinet government" mean? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Examine the role of the Prime Minister in modern Britain. Why are modern British...
