ensures that the executive, and the
prime minister, is removable by a simple majority vote in the
House of Commons. The executive is bound to the rule of law, interpreted by the
judiciary, but the judiciary may not declare an Act of Parliament to be unconstitutional. While principles may the basis of the British constitution, the institutions of the state perform its functions in practice. First,
Parliament is the sovereign entity. Its two chambers legislate. In the
House of Commons each
Member of Parliament is elected by a
simple majority in a democratic vote, although outcomes do not always accurately match people's preferences overall. Historically, most elections occurred each four years, but this was fixed at five years in 2011. Election spending is tightly controlled, foreign interference is prohibited, and donations and lobbying are limited in whatever form. The
House of Lords reviews and votes upon legislative proposals by the Commons. It can delay legislation by one year, and cannot delay at all if the proposed Act concerns money. Most Lords are appointed by the Prime Minister, through the King, on the advice of a Commission which, by convention, offers some balance between political parties. Ninety-two hereditary peers remain. To become law, each
Act of Parliament must be read by both houses three times, and given
royal assent by the monarch. The monarch cannot veto legislation, by convention, since
1708. Second, the judiciary interprets the law. It can not strike down an Act of Parliament, but the judiciary ensures that any law which may violate fundamental rights has to be clearly expressed, to force politicians to openly confront what they are doing and "accept the political cost". Under the
Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the judiciary is appointed by the
Judicial Appointments Commission with cross-party and judicial recommendations, to protect judicial independence. Third, the executive branch of government is led by the
prime minister who must be able to command a majority in the House of Commons. The Cabinet of Ministers is appointed by the Prime Minister to lead the main departments of state, such as the
Treasury, the
Foreign Office, the
Department of Health and the
Department of Education. Officially the "
head of state" is the monarch, but all
prerogative power is exercised by the Prime Minister, subject to
judicial review. Fourth, as the UK matured as a modern democracy, an extensive system of civil servants, and
public service institutions developed to deliver UK residents economic, social and legal rights. All public bodies, and private bodies that perform public functions, are bound by the
rule of law.
Parliament In the British constitution,
Parliament sits at the apex of power. It emerged through a series of revolutions as the dominant body, over the
church,
courts, and the
monarch, and within Parliament the
House of Commons emerged as the dominant chamber, over the
House of Lords that traditionally represented the
aristocracy. The central justification for
Parliamentary sovereignty is usually thought to be its democratic nature, although it was only upon the
Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 that Parliament could be said to have finally become "democratic" in any modern sense (as property qualifications to vote were abolished for everyone over 21), and not until after
WW2 that decolonisation, university constituencies and lowering of the voting age took place. Parliament's main functions are to legislate, to allocate money for public spending, and to scrutinise the government. In practice many MPs are involved in
Parliamentary committees which investigate spending, policies, laws and their impact, and often report to recommend reform. For instance, the Modernisation Committee of the House of Commons in 2002 recommended publishing draft bills before they became law, and was later found to have been highly successful. There are 650
Members of Parliament (MPs) in the
House of Commons, currently elected in five year terms unless two-thirds vote for an early election, and 790 peers in the
House of Lords. For a proposed Bill to become an Act, and law, it must be read three times in each chamber, and given
royal assent by the monarch. is the most important body in the British constitution. Its
Members of Parliament are democratically elected by constituencies across the UK, and the parties who have a majority in the Commons form the British government. Today the
House of Commons is the primary organ of representative government. The
Representation of the People Act 1983 section 1 gives the right to vote for MP in the
House of Commons to all
Commonwealth citizens, and citizens of the
Republic of Ireland, who are over age 18, and registered. Sections 3 and 4 exclude people who are convicted of an offence and in a penal institution, or detained under mental health laws. These restrictions fall below European standards, which require that people who are convicted of very minor crimes (such as petty theft or drug offences) have the right to vote. Since 2013, everyone has to register individually to vote (for instance, at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote), instead of households being able to register collectively, but an annual household canvass is conducted to increase the number of registered people. As far back as 1703,
Ashby v White recognised the right to "vote at the election of a person to represent him or [her] in Parliament, there to concur to the making of laws, which are to bind his liberty and property" as "a most transcendent thing, and of an high nature". This originally meant that any interference in that right would lead to damages. If the denial of voting would have changed the result, or if a vote was "conducted so badly that it was not substantially in accordance with the law" the vote would have to be run again. So, in
Morgan v Simpson the Court of Appeal declared that an election for a
Greater London Council seat was not valid after it was found that 44 unstamped ballot papers were not counted. These common law principles predate statutory regulation, and therefore appear to apply to any vote, including elections and referendums. Election spending is tightly controlled today by statute. A maximum of £20 million can be spent by political parties in national campaigns, plus £10,000 in each constituency. Political advertisements on television are prohibited except for those in certain free time slots, although the internet remains largely unregulated. Any spending over £500 by third parties must be disclosed. While these rules are strict, they were held in
Animal Defenders International v UK to be compatible with the Convention because "each person has equal value" and "we do not want our government or its policies to be decided by the highest spenders." Foreign interference in voting is completely prohibited, including any "broadcasting" (also over the internet) "with intent to influence persons to give or refrain from giving their votes". Donations by foreign parties can be forfeited in their entirety to the
Electoral Commission. Domestic donations are limited to registered parties, and must be reported, when they are over £7,500 nationally or £1,500 locally, to the
Electoral Commission. The system for electing the Commons is based on constituencies, whose boundaries are
periodically reviewed to even out populations. There has been considerable debate about the
first-past-the-post system of voting the UK uses, as it tends to exclude minority parties. By contrast, in
Australia voters may select preferences for candidates, although this system was rejected in a
2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum staged by the Cameron-Clegg coalition. In the
European Parliament, voters choose a party from multi-member regional constituencies: this tends to give smaller parties much greater representation. In the
Scottish Parliament,
Welsh Assembly and
London Assembly, voters have the choice of both constituencies and a party list, which tends to reflect overall preferences best. To be elected as an MP, most people generally become members of
political parties, and must be over 18 on the day of nomination to run for a seat, be a qualifying Commonwealth or Irish citizen, not be bankrupt, found guilty of corrupt practices, or be a Lord, judge or employee of the civil service. To limit the government's practical control over Parliament, the
Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975 restricts higher payment of salaries to a set number of MPs. is a chamber mostly appointed by the
prime minister, loosely based on the Lords' expertise, achievement, or political affiliation. Since the abolition of most
hereditary peers, there has been ongoing debate about whether or how to elect the House of Lords. Along with a hereditary monarch, the
House of Lords remains an historical curiosity in the British constitution. Traditionally it represented the landed aristocracy, and political allies of the monarch or the government, and has only gradually and incompletely been reformed. Today, the
House of Lords Act 1999 has abolished all but 92 hereditary peers, leaving most peers to be "life peers" appointed by the government under the
Life Peerages Act 1958, law lords appointed under the
Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, and
Lords Spiritual who are senior clergy of the
Church of England. Since 2005, senior judges can only sit and vote in the House of Lords after retirement. The government carries out appointment of most peers, but since 2000 has taken advice from a seven-person House of Lords Appointments Commission with representatives from the Labour, Conservatives and Liberal-Democrat parties. A peerage can always be disclaimed, and ex-peers may then run for Parliament. Since 2015, a peer may be suspended or expelled by the House. In practice the
Parliament Act 1949 greatly reduced the House of Lords' power, as can only delay and cannot block legislation by one year, and cannot delay money bills at all. Nevertheless, several
options for reform are debated. A
House of Lords Reform Bill 2012 proposed to have 360 directly elected members, 90 appointed members, 12 bishops and an uncertain number of ministerial members. The elected Lords would have been elected by proportional representation for 15 year terms, through 10 regional constituencies on a
single transferable vote system. However, the government withdrew support after backlash from Conservative backbenches. It has often been argued that if the Lords were elected by geographic constituencies and a party controlled both sides "there would be little prospect of effective scrutiny or revision of government business." A second option, like in Swedish
Riksdag, could simply be to abolish the House of Lords: this was in fact done during the
English Civil War in 1649, but restored along with the monarchy in
1660. A third proposed option is to elect peers by work and professional groups, so that health care workers elect peers with special health knowledge, people in education elect a fixed number of education experts, legal professionals elect legal representatives, and so on. This is argued to be necessary to improve the quality of legislation.
Judiciary , which moved to its modern home at
Middlesex Guildhall in 2009, are web-streamed live, and judges no longer wear wigs. The judiciary in the United Kingdom has the essential functions of upholding the
rule of law, democracy, and human rights. The highest court of appeal, renamed from the
House of Lords in 2005, is the
Supreme Court. Since the 1966
Practice Statement, the judiciary has acknowledged that while a system of precedent, that binds lower courts, is necessary to provide "at least some degree of certainty", the courts should update their jurisprudence and "depart from a previous decision when it appears right to do so." Litigation usually begins in a
County Court or the
High Court for civil law issues, or a
magistrates' court or the
Crown Court for
criminal law issues. There are also
employment tribunals for
labour law disputes, and the
First-tier Tribunal for public or regulatory disputes, ranging from immigration, to social security, to tax. After the High Court, Crown Court, or appeal tribunals, cases generally may appeal to the
Court of Appeal in England and Wales. In Scotland, the
Court of Session has an Outer (first instance) and Inner (appeal) House. Appeals then go to the Supreme Court, although at any time a court may make a "
preliminary reference" to the
Court of Justice of the European Union to clarify the meaning of
EU law. Since the
Human Rights Act 1998, courts have been expressly required to interpret British law to be compatible with the
European Convention on Human Rights. This follows a longer tradition of courts interpreting the law to be compatible with
international law obligations. It is generally accepted that the British courts do not merely apply but also create new law through their interpretative function: this is obvious in the
common law and
equity, where there is no codified statutory basis for large parts of the law, such as
contracts,
torts or
trusts. This also means an element of retroactivity, since an application of developing rules may differ from at least one party's understanding of the law in any conflict. Although formally the British judiciary may not declare an Act of Parliament "unconstitutional", in practice the judiciary's power to interpret the law so as to be compatible with human rights can render a statute inoperative, much like in other countries. The courts do so sparingly because they recognise the importance of the democratic process. Judges may also sit from time to time on public inquiries. on
Parliament Square. The independence of the judiciary is one of the cornerstones of the constitution, and means in practice that judges cannot be dismissed from office. Since the
Act of Settlement 1700, no judge has been removed, as to do so the King must act on address by both Houses of Parliament. It is very likely that a judge would never be dismissed, not merely because of formal rules but a "shared constitutional understanding" of the importance of the integrity of the legal system. This is reflected, for example, in the
sub judice rule that matters awaiting decision in court should not be prejudged in a Parliamentary debate. The
Lord Chancellor (once head of the judiciary but now simply a government minister) also has a statutory duty to uphold the independence of the judiciary, for instance, against attacks upon their integrity by media, corporations, or the government itself. Members of the judiciary can be appointed from among any member of the legal profession who has over 10 years of experience having rights of audience before a court: this usually includes barristers, but can also mean solicitors or academics. Appointments should be made "solely on merit" but regard may be had to the need for diversity when two candidates have equal qualifications. For appointments to the Supreme Court, a five-member Judicial Appointments Committee is formed including one Supreme Court judge, three members from the
Judicial Appointments Commission, and one lay person. For other senior judges such as those on the Court of Appeal, or for the Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls, or the heads of the High Court divisions, a similar five member panel with two judges is formed. Gender and ethnic diversity is lacking in the British judiciary compared to other developed countries, and potentially compromises the expertise and administration of justice. Backing up the judiciary is a considerable body of administrative law. The
Contempt of Court Act 1981 enables a court to hold anyone in contempt, and commit the person to imprisonment, for violating a court order, or behaviour that could compromise a fair judicial process. In practice this is enforced by the executive. The
Lord Chancellor heads the
Ministry of Justice, which performs various functions including administering the
Legal Aid Agency for people who cannot afford access to the courts. In
R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor the government suffered scathing criticism for creating high fees that cut the number of applicants to employment tribunals by 70 per cent. In England and Wales, the
Attorney General for England and Wales and the
Solicitor General for England and Wales represent the Crown in litigation. The Attorney General also appoints the
Director of Public Prosecutions who heads the
Crown Prosecution Service, which reviews cases submitted by the police for prosecution, and conducts them on behalf of the Crown.
Executive , at
10 Downing Street, exercises political power of the British government, when they command majority support of the
House of Commons. The executive branch, while subservient to Parliament and judicial oversight, exercises day to day power of the British government. In form, the UK remains a
constitutional monarchy. The formal
head of state is
His Majesty King Charles III, a
hereditary monarch since 2022. In reality, no Queen or King has attempted to usurp the will of Parliament
since 1708, and all constitutional duties and power are accepted by binding convention to have shifted to the
prime minister, Parliament or the courts. Over the 17th century, the
Petition of Right 1628 was asserted by Parliament to prevent any taxation by the monarch without Parliament's consent, and the
Habeas Corpus Act 1640 denied the monarch any power to arrest people for failing to pay taxes. The monarch's continued assertion of the
divine right to rule led to
Charles I being executed in the
English Civil War, and finally the settlement of power in the
Bill of Rights 1689. Following the
Act of Union 1707 and an early
financial crisis as
South Sea Company shares crashed,
Robert Walpole emerged as a dominant political figure. Leading the House of Commons from 1721 to 1742, Walpole is generally acknowledged to be the first
prime minister (
Primus inter pares). The PM's modern functions include leading the dominant political party, setting policy priorities, creating Ministries and appointing ministers, judges, peers, and civil servants. The PM also has considerable control through the convention of
collective responsibility (that ministers must publicly support the government even when they privately disagree, or resign), and control over the government's communications to the public. By contrast in law, as is necessary in a democratic society, the monarch is a figurehead with no political power, but a series of ceremonial duties, and considerable funding. Aside from
private wealth and finance, the monarchy is funded under the
Sovereign Grant Act 2011, which reserves 25 per cent of the net revenue from the
Crown Estate. The
Crown Estate is a public, government corporation, which in 2015 held £12 billion in investments, mostly land and property, and therefore generates income by charging
rent to businesses or people for homes. The monarch's major ceremonial duties are to appoint the
prime minister who can command the majority of the
House of Commons, to give royal assent to Acts of Parliament, and to dissolve Parliament upon the calling of an election. Minor ceremonial duties include giving an audience to the Prime Minister, as well as visiting ministers or diplomats from the Commonwealth, and acting on state occasions, such as delivering the "
King's speech" (written by the government, outlining its political platform) at the opening of Parliament. It has frequently been debated whether the UK should
abolish the monarchy, on the ground that hereditary inheritance of political office has no place in a democracy. On the other hand, there are powerful attachments of emotion and tradition: in Australia a referendum was held in 1999 on
becoming a Republic, but failed to get a majority. , currently led by
Kemi Badenoch of the
Conservatives, is to hold the government and the Prime Minister to account in and out of
Parliament. Although called the
royal prerogative, a series of important powers that were once vested in the king or queen are now exercised by government, and the
prime minister in particular. These are powers of day-to-day management, but tightly constrained to ensure that executive power cannot usurp Parliament or the courts. In the
Case of Prohibitions in 1607, it was held that the royal prerogative could not be used to determine court cases, and in the
Case of Proclamations in 1610 it was held new prerogative powers could not be created by the executive. Royal prerogative powers can be categorised in different ways, there are around 15. First, the executive may create hereditary titles, confer honours and create peers. Second, the executive can legislate by an Order in Council, though this has been called an 'anachronistic survival'. Third, the executive can create and administer financial benefits schemes. Fourth, through the Attorney General the executive can stop prosecutions or pardon convicted offenders after taking advice. Fifth, the executive may acquire more territory or alter limits of British territorial waters. Sixth, the executive may expel aliens and theoretically restrain people from leaving the UK. The executive can sign treaties, although before it is considered ratified the treaty must be laid before Parliament for 21 days and there must be no resolution against it. Eighth, the executive governs the armed forces and can do "all those things in an emergency which are necessary for the conduct of war". The executive cannot declare war without Parliament by convention, and in any case has no hope in funding war without Parliament. Ninth, the Prime Minister can appoint ministers, judges, public officials or royal commissioners. Tenth, the monarch needs to pay no tax, unless statute states it expressly. Eleventh, the executive may by
royal charter create corporations, such as the BBC, and franchises for markets, ferries and fisheries. Twelfth, the executive has the right to mine precious metals, and to take treasure troves. Thirteenth, it may make coins. Fourteenth, it can print or license the authorised version of the Bible, Book of Common Prayer and state papers. And fifteenth, subject to modern
family law, it may take guardianship of infants. In addition to these royal prerogative powers, there are innumerable powers explicitly laid down in statutes enabling the executive to make legal changes. This includes a growing number of
Henry VIII clauses, which enable a Secretary of State to alter provisions of primary legislation. For this reason it has often been argued that executive authority should be reduced, written into statute, and never used to deprive people of rights without Parliament. All uses of the prerogative, however, are subject to judicial review: in the
GCHQ case the House of Lords held that no person could be deprived of legitimate expectations by use of the royal prerogative. hosts the major offices of the British government, led by
cabinet ministers. Facing towards
Big Ben is a statue of
Charles I, who was executed in 1649 for denying the rights of
Parliament. Although the Prime Minister is the head of Parliament, Her Majesty's Government is formed by a larger group of Members of Parliament, or peers. The "
cabinet" is a still smaller group of 22 or 23 people, though only twenty ministers may be paid. Each minister typically heads a Department or Ministry, which can be created or renamed by prerogative. Cabinet committees are usually organised by the Prime Minister. Every minister is expected to follow collective responsibility, and the
Ministerial Code 2010. This includes rules that Ministers are "expected to behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety", "give accurate and truthful information to Parliament", resign if they "knowingly mislead Parliament", to be "as open as possible", have no possible conflicts of interest and give a full list of interests to a permanent secretary, and only "remain in office for so long as they retain the confidence of the Prime Minister". Assisting ministers is a modern
civil service and network of government bodies, who are employed at the pleasure of the Crown. The Civil Service Code requires civil servants to show "high standards of behaviour", uphold core values of "integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality", and never put themselves in a position that "might reasonably be seen to compromise their personal judgment or integrity". Since the
Freedom of Information Act 2000, it has been expected that government should be open about information, and should disclose it upon a request unless disclosure would compromise personal data, security or may run against the public interest. In this way the trend has been to more open, transparent and accountable governance.
Public services and enterprise Public services and enterprise aim to protect the well-being of people in the UK. They create most social and economic rights in practice, which generally match government departments, particularly in nine main enterprises of
education,
health,
full employment and
social security,
clean energy,
housing,
food and water,
transport infrastructure,
communications, a deliberative media, and
security. Funding for public services comes from a range of
taxes, mainly on workers' incomes and consumption (rather than capital), levied through annual budgets and Appropriate Acts, organised by
HM Treasury. The UK has not yet developed a coherent approach to its public services, with a clear set of
universal basic services free at the point of use, even though this is calculated to be cheaper to run than systems of prices and private ownership. , 2016-17. Social protection includes pensions and welfare. First, the UK does not yet have a "
National Education Service", but instead the
Department for Education oversees a splintered system of
nurseries, schools and universities. Around 70% of nurseries are controlled by private entities, which tend to have higher fees, pay lower wages and have less parental involvement than non-profit nurseries. There is a right to 30 hours of government subsidised childcare after 3 years old, lowering to 9 months old from 2025. Schools are mostly public, while 6.5% of students attend
fee-paying schools that refuse access to children who do not have parents with money. Most children attend local authority maintained schools, academies and free schools, which are accessed freely. Local authority schools have governing bodies that typically include parents, the headteacher, staff, and council representatives. Universities are, since 2011, mainly funded by £9250 tuition fees from home students, and unlimited fees from international students, departing from the previous tradition of tuition free study and grants. The UK government also gives a limited sum of research funding through
UK Research and Innovation, which is appointed by the Secretary of State, without any right of academics to vote. Governing bodies vary between Cambridge, Oxford, Scottish and London universities having a majority or high number elected by staff, while 46 newer universities are limited to two staff-elected members of their governing bodies. Second, the
National Health Service Act 2006 codifies the rules of the UK's comprehensive health service, free at the point of use. Yet since
2012 the NHS has increased the 2% cap on private work done by NHS trusts to 49%, had more outsourcing, and private finance in buildings, coinciding with stagnating life expectancy. Where people are not paying privately, the
Department of Health and Social Care distributes money to
NHS England (or Scottish, Welsh and Irish counterparts), which in turn distributes money (among others) to
General Practitioner doctors, and 42
Integrated Care Boards that in turn distribute funds to NHS trusts that run hospitals. GP surgeries are typically
partnerships of self-employed doctors, while
NHS foundation trusts that run most hospitals have a Council of Governors where three to one-half are employee elected, one by local authorities, one by any nearby university, but the rest typically appointed by the incumbent board. Third, the responsibility for overall economic management that underpins full employment and social security is split between
HM Treasury, the
Bank of England, and the
Department for Work and Pensions. While HM Treasury ultimately sets economic policy, including fiscal policy, that will affect the investment for jobs, the
Bank of England Act 1998 states that the Bank determines monetary policy independently. The Bank's board is appointed by the government without any formal requirement for labour or regional representation, and it carries out monetary policy mainly by changing the interest rate it charges to private banks, which in turn affects overall levels of borrowing, and in turn private investment, and in turn employment, or possibly inflation. The Bank also supervises private banks, and jointly regulates their practices such as guaranteeing fair loans and consumer bank accounts. Social security, including
Jobseeker's Allowance and the
State Pension, is administered by the
Department for Work and Pensions. Its finance ultimately depends on the extent to which Treasury achieves full employment with fair wages and working time, thus reducing the cost of
unemployment benefit claims, and ensuring better funding for pensions. Fourth among major public services is energy, overseen by the
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Despite the
Climate Change Act 2008 requiring an end to greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the
Oil and Gas Authority and
Coal Authority continue to license fossil fuel extraction, and since 2015 the
OGA has a duty to "maximise the economy recovery of oil". Electricity is transmitted and distributed around the UK by
National Grid plc, which (despite being a
natural monopoly) was sold to private shareholders after the
Electricity Act 1989, as were the generating companies of UK energy.
Six big companies held 70% of the market in 2022, namely British Gas, SSE, Scottish Power, EdF, and Ovo, although the growth of renewable energy has enabled working competition from household solar, clean generating firms such as
Octopus Energy, or public providers such as
London Power. The
Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (known as Ofgem) oversees the whole sector, entirely appointed by the Secretary of State, who can give directions, including capping prices. Ofgem's main function is to license large energy companies, and ensure they abide by the standard licence conditions. Fifth, housing is overseen by the
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, but there was a sharp decline in building affordable homes, and no fair rent rules since the
Housing Act 1985. Sixth, the
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs oversees the food and water sectors. Farming was subsidised by the EU
Common Agricultural Policy, but now this is being replaced by a UK system with wide discretion to make payments for environmental or farm support criteria. Unlike nearly all other countries, England's water system was privatised, and the
Water Industry Act 1991 merely established a regulator,
Ofwat that is meant to promote competition to protect consumers, despite each water company being a
natural monopoly.
Scottish Water, by contrast, remains public, and
Welsh Water is non-profit, each having lower bills and cleaner rivers and beaches than in England. Seventh, the
Department for Transport manages rail and road networks through spending on infrastructure, and the Secretary's appointment of the
Office of Rail and Road. Both rail and buses in England are banned from being owned by UK public bodies (outside London, and with some exceptions), even though foreign governments can and do own many rail and bus companies. Eighth, communications and media are overseen by the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport and
Ofcom, whose directors are appointed by the Secretary of State. Ofcom regulates TV and radio for fairness and accuracy and has licensing powers, but has not used its powers to regulate broadcasting on the internet, and has no power so far to regulate print media. The
British Broadcasting Corporation and
Channel 4 are publicly owned media networks, funded by a licence fee (BBC) and advertising (C4). Ofcom also licences internet broadband companies, which are nearly all private. Ninth, the
Ministry of Defence controls the army, navy and air force with a strict line of command and discipline. The
Home Office, often jointly with elected mayors, controls the
police.
Regional government and
Mayor of London work at
City Hall. The only
region of England with representation, it has limited powers including over transport, the environment and housing. The constitution of British regional governments is an uncodified patchwork of authorities, mayors, councils and devolved government. In
Wales,
Scotland,
Northern Ireland and
London unified district or borough councils have local government powers, and since 1998 to 2006 new regional assemblies or Parliaments exercise extra powers devolved from Westminster. In
England, there are 55 unitary authorities in the larger towns (e.g. Bristol, Brighton, Milton Keynes) and 36 metropolitan boroughs (surrounding Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield, and Newcastle) which function as unitary local authorities. In other parts of England, local government is split between two tiers of authority: 32 larger County Councils, and within those 192 District Councils, each sharing different functions. Since 1994, England has had
eight regions for administrative purposes at Whitehall, yet these have no regional government or democratic assembly (like in London, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) after a 2004 referendum on a
North East Assembly failed. This means that England has among the most centralised, and disunified systems of governance in the Commonwealth or Europe. Three main issues in local government are the authorities' financing, their powers, and the reform of governance structures. First, councils raise revenue from
council tax (charged on local residents according to property values in 1993) and
business rates charged on businesses with operations in the locality. These powers are, compared to other countries, extreme in limiting local government autonomy, and taxes can be subjected to a local referendum if the Secretary of State determines they are excessive. In real terms since 2010, central government cut local council funding by nearly 50 per cent, and real spending fell by 21 per cent, as councils failed to make up cuts through business rates. Unitary authorities and district councils are responsible for administering council tax and business rates. The duties of local governments are also extremely limited compared to other countries, but also uncodified so that in 2011 the
Department for Communities and Local Government enumerated
1340 specific duties of local authorities. Generally, the
Localism Act 2011 section 1 states local authorities may do anything an individual person may do, unless prohibited by law, but this provision has little effect because human beings or
companies cannot tax or regulate other people in the way that governments must. The
Local Government Act 1972 section 101 says that a local authority can discharge its functions through a committee or any officer, and can transfer functions to another authority, while section 111 gives authorities the power to do any thing including spending or borrowing 'which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the discharge of any of their functions'. However the real duties of local council are found in hundreds of scattered Acts and statutory instruments. These include duties to administer
planning consent, to carry out compulsory purchasing according to law, to administer school education, libraries, care for children, roads or highway maintenance and local buses, provide care for the elderly and disabled, prevent pollution and ensure clean air, ensure collection, recycling and disposal of waste, regulate building standards, provide social and affordable housing, and shelters for the homeless. Local authorities do not yet have powers common in other countries, such as setting minimum wages, regulating rents, or borrowing and taxing as is necessary in the public interest, which frustrates objectives of pluralism, localism and autonomy. Since 2009, authorities have been empowered to merge into 'combined authorities' and to have an
elected mayor. This has been done around Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham, the Tees Valley, Bristol and Peterborough. The functions of an elected mayor are not substantial, but can include those of Police and Crime Commissioners. at
Holyrood has 129 MSPs with extensive powers, including taxation. In Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London there are also regional assemblies and Parliaments, similar to state or provincial governments in other countries. The extent of devolution differs in each place. The
Scotland Act 1998 created a unicameral
Scottish Parliament with 129 elected members each four years: 73 from single member constituencies with simple majority vote, and 56 from additional member systems of proportional representation. Under section 28, the Scottish Parliament can make any laws except for on 'reserved matters' listed in Schedule 5. These powers, reserved for the UK Parliament, include foreign affairs, defence, finance, economic planning, home affairs, trade and industry, social security, employment, broadcasting, and equal opportunities. By
convention, members of the British Parliament from Scottish constituencies do not vote on issues that the Scottish Parliament has exercised power over. This is the most powerful regional government so far. The
Northern Ireland Act 1998 lists which matters are transferred, but the
Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2017 because of basic disagreements among its members, stemming from long-standing violence and civil conflict, before a delicate peace deal was brokered in the
Good Friday Agreement. The
Government of Wales Act 2006 requires a 40-member assembly with elections each four years, and sets out in Schedule 5 twenty fields of government competence, with some exceptions. The fields include agriculture, fisheries, forestry and rural development, economic development, school education, environmental policy, highways and transport, housing, planning, and some aspects of social welfare. The Supreme Court has tended to interpret these powers in favour of devolution. ==Human rights==