6. Multilevel Governing Within the United Kingdom

Public Law ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 159-194
Author(s):  
Andrew Le Sueur ◽  
Maurice Sunkin ◽  
Jo Eric Khushal Murkens
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Civil Unrest ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Law Making

This chapter examines multilevel governing within the UK. It is organized around three levels of governing: national, regional, and local. For most of the twentieth century, Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) formed a centralized political unit, with policymaking and law-making being led by the UK government and the UK Parliament. There was devolved government in Northern Ireland from 1922, but this was brought to an end by the UK government in 1972 amid mounting civil unrest and paramilitary violence. At the local level, there are more than 400 local authorities throughout the United Kingdom. These vary considerably in size, both in terms of their territorial area that they cover and their populations.

‘Positive direct rule’: economic policy

No Solution ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.C. Aveyard
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Labour Government ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Positive Direct

This chapter looks at economic policy in Northern Ireland in the context of severe economic difficulties experienced by the UK as a whole. It shows how the Labour government sought to shield Northern Ireland from economic realities because of the conflict, increasing public expenditure and desperately seeking industrial investment. The level of desperation in this endeavour is illustrated through examples such as Harland & Wolff’s shipyards and the DeLorean Motor Company. The experience of the 1970s, and particularly under the Labour government, set the pattern for the following decades with a steadily increasing subvention from the rest of the United Kingdom and a growing dependence on the public sector, all at a time when the opposite trend took place in Great Britain.

Modern slavery in the United Kingdom: an incoherent response

2018 ◽  
pp. 27-46
Author(s):  
Gary Craig
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Immigration Legislation ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk

This chapter reviews developments leading to the enactment of the 2015 Modern Slavery Act in England and Wales and parallel legislation in Northern Ireland and Scotland. It analyses the response of the UK government to growing pressure for legislation, and the failings of the actual legislation put in place, including a comparison with some key elements in its Scottish and Northern Irish counterparts. Despite claims to be world-leading, the Modern Slavery Act has already been found to be deficient in many key areas such as continuing protection for victims and linking slavery and immigration legislation, and is considered to be in need of substantial reform.

scholarly journals A summary of recent constitutional reform in the United Kingdom

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-102
Author(s):  
Lesley Dingle ◽  
Bradley Miller
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Court Of Appeal

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Legislative competence for the UK resides in the Westminster Parliament, but there are three legal systems (England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland) with separate courts and legal professions. These legal systems have a unified final court of appeal in the House of Lords. The Isle of Man, and the two Channel Islands (Guernsey and Jersey) are not part of the UK, but possessions of the crown. Although their citizens are subject to the British Nationality Act 1981, the islands have their own legal systems. They are represented by the UK government for the purposes of international relations, but are not formal members of the European Union.

scholarly journals Equality and Devolution in the United Kingdom: A Story in Three Acts and a Sequel

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Paula Devine ◽  
Grace Kelly ◽  
Martina McAuley
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Way

Within the United Kingdom (UK), many of the arguments driving devolution and Brexit focused on equality. This article assesses how notions of equality have been shaped over the past two decades. Using a chronology of theoretical, political and public interpretations of equality between 1998 and 2018, the article highlights the shifting positions of Northern Ireland (NI) and the rest of the UK. NI once led the way in relation to equality legislation, and equality was the cornerstone of the Good Friday/Belfast peace agreement. However, the Equality Act 2010 in Great Britain meant that NI was left behind. The nature of future UK/EU relationships and how these might influence the direction and extent of the equality debate in the UK is unclear. While this article focuses on the UK, the questions that it raises have global application, due to the international influences on equality discourse and legislation.

Decentralisation and Devolution in the United Kingdom

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Chris Game
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Government Functions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Working Out

The key to the core of this chapter is in its title. Constitutionally, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) is still a unitary state comprising three countries – England, Scotland, Wales – plus the province of Northern Ireland. Since 1998, though, the last three have had their own elected parliaments or assemblies and devolved governments, whose responsibilities naturally include most local government functions and operations. It is arguable, therefore, that in practice nowadays the UK is quasi-federal. England, with 84% of the UK population, doesn't have a separate parliament, but is gradually working out its own form of devolution. The chapter describes all these developments, but its detail is largely reserved for the structure and workings of local government in England – elections and elected councillors, services and functions, and its currently rapidly changing finances – and the impact, particularly on councils' financial and policy discretion, of its having, in population terms, by far the largest scale of local government in Western Europe.

2. Constitutions:

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Clements
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Great Improvement ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Constitutional Conventions ◽  
The Uk

The Q&A series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each chapter includes typical questions; diagram problem and essay answer plans, suggested answers, notes of caution, tips on obtaining extra marks, the key debates on each topic and suggestions on further reading. This chapter considers the constitution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and Northern Ireland. The questions deal with issues such as whether a written constitution would make a great improvement to the UK system of government; the purpose of constitutional conventions; Dicey’s theory of the rule of law; the meaning of ‘separation of powers’; and its role in the constitutional arrangements of the UK and devolution or federalism.

7. The structure of the United Kingdom and devolution

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Parpworth
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Constitutional History ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk

This chapter discusses the structure and devolution of the UK. It first sketches the constitutional history of the UK, presenting a brief outline of events that led to the creation of the UK, i.e. the union of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The chapter then examines the issue of devolution, which has been particularly important to the people of Scotland and Wales. The key provisions of the devolution legislation enacted in 1998 and more recent legislative developments are reviewed. The chapter concludes by considering the ‘English Question’ and the agreements between the UK Government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

UK government is preparing for an early election

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
General Election ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Significance Johnson's cabinet overhaul is the largest in decades, replacing 17 cabinet ministers from the previous government mostly with individuals who support Johnson’s hard-line stance on Brexit. Impacts Brussels could offer London a ‘Northern Ireland only’ backstop, but this will be rejected by the UK government. The government will likely pass legislation to protect EU citizens’ rights in the United Kingdom if there is a no-deal Brexit. The EU will only grant another extension if a deal is almost agreed, or if there is a UK general election or second Brexit referendum.

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