Central and local government

Some countries, such as the USA and Canada, are federal. They are made up of a

number of states, each of which has its own government with its own powers to

make laws and collect taxes. In these countries the central governments have

powers only because the states have given them powers. In Britain it is the other

way around. Local government authorities (generally known as 'councils') only

have powers because the central government has given them powers. Indeed, they

only exist because the central government allows them to exist. Several times in

the last hundred years British governments have reorganized local government,

abolishing some local councils and bringing new ones into existence.

The system of local government is very similar to the system of national

government. There are elected representatives, called councillors (the equivalent of

MPs). They meet in a council chamber in the Town Hall or County Hall (the

equivalent of Parliament), where they make policy which is implemented by local

government officers (the equivalent of civil servants).

Most British people have far more direct dealings with local government than they

do with national government. Local councils traditionally manage nearly all public

services.

Local councils are allowed to collect one kind of tax. This is a tax based on

property. (All other kinds are collected by central government.) 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.

The trend in the last half century has been towards greater control from central

government. Perhaps this trend is inevitable because national party politics

dominates local politics. Most people vote at local elections according to their

national party preferences, so that these elections become a kind of national

opinion poll.

Local government services include public hygiene and environmental health

inspection, rubbish collection (which is done by 'dustmen'), the cleaning and

tidying of all public places (which is done by 'street sweepers') and many others

(e.g. planning, roads and traffic, housing, building regulations, safety in public

places, education, social services, libraries, leisure and recreation, police force, fire

brigade). They also include the provision of public swimming pools and sports

centres, which charge admission, 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. Most parks are staffed by employees who do the gardening

and keep the place tidy. Public libraries are another well-known service. Anybody

can go into one of these to consult the books, newspapers and magazines there (and

in many cases recorded material as well) free of charge. If you want to borrow

items and take them out of the library, you have to show that you live in the area

and get a library card.