Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Harrison.

I'm the person who's going to be guiding you through today's lesson.

The lesson today is called What are the Differences Between Local, Regional, and National Governance? And it's part of a larger unit of work called, How is the UK Governed? By the end of today's lesson, you are going to be able to say, "I can explain and compare, "some of the key differences, "between local, regional, and national governance." Some of this work might be new to you and some of it might be challenging.

I'm gonna guide us all the way through it and we'll tackle those challenges together.

First of all, we're gonna start with the key words.

I'm going to say the key word, and you are going to repeat it back to me and then I'll tell you the definition.

Government.

The government is the group of people with the authority to govern a country.

And in the UK, the government is chosen and led by the Prime Minister.

Local government.

That's a system of government that operates at a local level, providing services to its community.

Devolved.

That's political powers which have been transferred from the central government or parliament to a national, regional, local government or parliament.

It's time for our first learning cycle called, what are central and local governments? The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy.

Now, parliamentary democracy, is when citizens of a country will vote to elect the people that they want to sit in parliament to represent their views and wants and ideas for the country.

Now, these elected leaders, the Members of Parliament, they're the people who then make decisions and laws for the country.

Now, the government, that's the people, the part of the state which runs the day-to-day affairs of the country.

The government is selected from the people who are elected into parliament.

Now, the governments, the people, again who run the day-to-day affairs of the country, they are accountable to parliament, they are scrutinised by parliament, they have everything checked upon, and they've got to follow any of the rules set by Parliament as well.

And if it loses support, if the government loses support, then a new leader or an election might be triggered in order to replace that government.

In the United Kingdom, we have what's called a Central Government.

Now it's called central Government because, well, it's at the centre of coordinating the UK as a whole.

It's the body that's responsible for the national governance.

And so it has ruling authority over the UK as a whole.

That means any decisions, any rules, any of the policies that they make, will concern whole UK issues.

And all of those policies will then be put in place across the whole of the state.

Let's have a look then at the structure of central government.

So at the top there, we have the head of state, which is the monarchs or the king or the queen, and then we have three branches.

We have the Parliament branch.

So that's the part that's responsible for discussing, debating, and passing the laws, that's what we call the legislative branch.

Then we have the Government, so that's the part responsible for the day-to-day running of the country.

Things like public services, making policies, and then enforcing any laws that Parliament made.

And that's the executive branch, because they execute, they carry out.

And then we have the Judicial branch, the Judiciary, and that's responsible for the legal side of things, like the courts, protection of rights and serving justice.

And as I've just referred to, we have the government in the centre there and the people who are in the government are pulled from Parliament, from the elected MPS in Parliament, and it's that centre there, the government that we're gonna focus on today.

A quick check for understanding.

Can you add then the correct word to complete this sentence? Central government is at the centre of coordinating and managing the UK as a whole, which means it is responsible for governance.

What kind of governance is it responsible for? I'll give you a few seconds to think about it.

Okay.

So central government is at the centre of coordinating and managing the UK as a whole, which means it's responsible for national governance.

Well done if you've got that one.

Let's see what Sam has to say then.

So the UK government is the executive branch of the country, which means it's responsible for running the day-to-day affairs of the country.

The government's main functions are, things like proposing legislation, so they will propose these bills when they have an idea of a law that they want to put in place.

Government can't put that law in place, that's up to parliament to do that.

And then once parliament have agreed it, then it comes back to the government again to then implement that rule and put the measures into place to make it happen.

Another main function is proposing budgets, so deciding how public money will be used and which area gets which amount.

And as we've said, running the countries, that's the day-to-day running of the country, the public services, things like healthcare, education, transport, national security, and so on.

Aisha says, "The Prime Minister "is the head of the Government "and therefore responsible for setting the overall direction "of government policy." And that's true, the Prime Minister is a huge part of what happens within the UK and the direction of all the policies and how that affects citizens in the UK.

But they're also a major representative of the UK on an international scale.

So they'll meet with world leaders, they'll take part in global conversations and international matters that affect the UK and the UK within the world as well.

And another of the Prime Minister's roles within the UK, is to pick cabinet members.

Now the cabinet is the main decision making body in government, responsible for setting policies, managing public services, and responding to national issues.

The cabinet meets here, picture that you can see on your screen at Whitehall in London.

Sometimes they might have to meet more frequently if there's some pressing issues.

So there might be a global crisis or there could be a UK crisis.

On the whole, they'll meet weekly to put policies and make decisions for things that concern the whole of the UK.

Now, the people that sit on the cabinet are called Senior Ministers, and sometimes they're referred to as Secretaries of State as well, so you might have heard of those.

As of March 2025, there are 22 senior ministers sitting on the cabinet.

Now, when the cabinet have made their decisions, those decisions are put into action.

They're practically carried out by government departments and they are really heavily supported by something called the Civil Service.

And the Civil Service are generally quite specialists in their area and understand those areas really well in order to be able to implement those policies across the whole of the UK.

The Cabinet will develop policies on everything, really, everything to do with UK life, so things like business and trade, sport, national defence, education policies, energy ideas, housing, justice, environment, border control and immigration, and things like health and social care as well.

So a really broad spectrum of policies and decisions that have to be made to help citizens in the UK and support them living their life here.

A quick check for understanding.

It's time to complete the sentence by choosing the correct word or phrase.

So we have here A, the UK government is the hmm, branch of the country.

B, the hmm is the main decision making body in governments.

And C, government departments are supported by the hmm? And here we have three words to be able to fill those gaps.

You need to choose the correct one to put in the correct space.

I'll give you a few seconds to think.

Okay, so A, the UK government is the executive branch of the country? B, the cabinet is the main decision making body in government.

Which means C, government departments are supported, by the Civil Service.

Really well done if you've got those three.

We've talked about central governments with the UK wide policies and the UK wide authority.

And in addition to that, the United Kingdom also has local governments.

Now, local governments differ in that they manage services and policies about things that affect everyday life for people living in a particular area, local areas, and most local governments in the UK are called councils.

So for example, we have Newport City Council, we have the Highland Council, we have Derry City and Strabane District Council, and we have Norfolk County Council.

And that's just four of many, many different councils across the whole of the UK.

Leaders in local governments are called councillors.

So just like MPS in central government, councillors are elected into their roles.

They're voted into those roles by people living in the area.

And again, just like MP's, it's their job to represent the people, their views, and the things that they want to see in their area.

Councillors are supported by lots of people called council officers.

Again, they're the people with specialist knowledge about the different departments that they work in.

And that's really similar, isn't it? To how ministers are supported in central government by civil servants, in the civil service.

There are many, many councillors within a council.

So every council district is divided into smaller geographical areas, and each of those geographical areas have their own Councillors.

Those small areas are called wards.

Often you get more than one counsellor per ward, it depends on the size of it, and as well as working directly with residents there.

So helping them with casework, helping them deal with complaints or suggestions.

They also work for the people living within the ward on a broader scale as well.

So representing them in whole council meetings and different matters there.

Quick check for understanding.

Which of these images best represents the geographical area that a local government serves? Let's have a look at the pictures, A, B, and C.

Which of these best represents the geographical area that a local government serves? I'll give you a few seconds to think.

Okay.

The answer to this is, C.

Yes.

Showing a local, smaller geographical area, a council and a local government would serve.

Well done if you've got that one.

And that local governments cover those smaller geographical areas, it might be a citywide area, it might be a countywide area.

And they have authority to make decisions over things like, social care.

Social care is talking about the support and the services that are provided to individuals who maybe need assistance with daily living.

Maybe it's due to illness, or to age, or to disability or lots of other factors as well.

Local governments also make decision over things like housing, over green spaces and parks, things like public transport in that area, waste collection and disposal, and schools as well, not education policy, but how the schools are run and how they then implement that policy, falls under local government.

Some examples of local council work, then will, without the local councils, there'd be no bins provided.

There'd be no rubbish collection or recycling in the UK, it seems like a small issue in the grand scheme of things, but bin collection is huge, isn't it? If they're not collected, if it's not taken away, if it's not disposed off correctly, that can create a major problem.

So local councils have a really big responsibility for things like waste disposal.

They're also responsible for things like the planning of new buildings, maintenance of roads, streetlights, pedestrian crossings and so on.

Again, big safety impact there for others.

Aisha says, "When there was a burst drain after a storm, "it was the local council who arranged to fix it." And Jacob says, "A new road has just been built near me.

"The local council made the builders "add more pedestrian crossings, "cycleways and planting to the plants." So you can see there's very practical ways that the local council improve life, for people living in that area and consider their safety and their wellbeing as well.

Local councils can also object or approve things in the area as well.

So they sometimes have to give permission for things to happen.

They give out licences for things like food, places, cafes, takeaways, pubs, and that's for things like food hygiene and sticking to alcohol rules.

Things like taxis.

So making sure that the drivers and the taxi companies are safe on the roads and for passengers.

Things like children's licences.

So some children work part-time, some children work in entertainment, like theatre or TV, and they will give out licences to make sure that employers know how many hours they can work and how long they can work for.

And also things like street sellers.

So people who want to sell in pop-up shops or in markets to make sure, again, that they're abiding by laws and they're safe to do that for the good of the people who live in the area.

Sam says, "My sibling needs a licence "to do their part-time job.

"It tells their employer "how many hours they can work and when." And that's really important for protecting the interests of children and protecting the interests of other people, living and working in the area for things like we say, food outlets, street sellers, taxis, and so on.

Now, the main job of a local government is that they are responsible for making sure their policies actually meet the needs of the community that they're serving.

So what works in one local area, might not work in another local area.

If you've got a local area which is very rural, what they need might be very different from a community which is urban.

So for example, public transport might be a bigger issue in one area than another.

So the local government must make sure that their policies meet the needs of the community.

One of the ways they can do this is by working closely with the residents of the area.

By speaking to them and asking them what they need, the more likely you are to get the policies that actually meet their needs, meet what they have to have in that area in order to be able to live a successful life, get around, find the support that they need.

Any decisions that local governments make have to follow UK law, and that is set by parliament, councils make their own laws.

True or false then? Local governments can choose their own laws for their local area.

True or false? I shall give you a few seconds to think.

Okay, is that true or false? It is false.

No, they cannot choose their own laws.

Why? I'll give you a few more seconds to think.

Okay, the why is, because laws are made by parliament.

Local governments have to stick to the UK law within any policies they make for their local area.

Really good job if you got that one.

Okay, we're onto task A, then your first task of this lesson.

The first part of this is, you are going to write a short summary to explain the key differences between local government and central governments.

And that's it.

So a short summary to explain those key differences.

Pause the video to give yourself the time to do this, and then we'll come back and look through some possible answers.

Okay, let's feed back on that task then.

So a short summary to explain the key differences between local and central governments.

Now, your summary might have looked something like this.

Local government is responsible for managing services and making decisions on issues specific to local areas, such as schools, licencing, planning permissions and waste collection.

Councillors are the decision makers, elected by the public and supported by council workers.

Central Government is responsible for national policy and issues, such as defence, immigration and foreign affairs with elected ministers on the cabinet and the Prime Minister making the key decisions.

Central Government is supported by civil service, which implements the national policies.

Really good job if you've got some of those key differences within your summary.

The second part of your task then is to determine if these areas are under local or central authority.

And all you need to do, is tick the correct box for that issue.

So the six issues here are international trade, parks and green spaces, security and defence, social care, school admissions, foreign affairs.

Are they under local or central authority? Pause the video to give yourself the time to do this and then we'll check the answers.

Okay, let's have a look then.

So international trade is a central issue.

Parks and green spaces is, under local authority.

Security and defence, is a central authority.

Social care, is under the local care.

School admissions falls under local as well, and foreign affairs is under central.

Really good job if you've got those ones.

It's time for our second learning cycle.

What is devolved government? Before 1997, most of the important decisions were made primarily by central governments.

That's the UK, the national governance.

Some limited authority was given to local governments, but on the whole, most of the important decisions were made by a central government, and that's what we called centralization.

So there we have things like health, defence, immigration, police, transport, all of that was under central government control with a local government taking, literally just the most local issues under their wing.

Over time though, regional governments have been given more power to be able to govern their own areas.

So what that means is that authority is transferring from central government to the regional governments, and then they're given the authority and the power to control certain aspects of life.

And that transfer of powers is called devolution.

Now, devolution is the opposite of centralization.

Aisha's helping us out with what the word devolve means.

And devolve comes from the Latin word, devolvere.

And we've got devolve there.

The D part of it means, from, away, or out of.

And the evolved part of it means, to roll or to bring round again.

So when we talk about devolving or devolution in a government sense, it's talking about rolling or passing authority down.

So that power goes from one level to a different level.

A quick check for understanding, you're going to choose the correct pair of words to complete this sentence.

The transfer of powers to regional governments is called hmm? Which is the opposite of, hmm? And here's your pair of words.

Is it devolution, which is the opposite of centralization, or is it the transfer of powers from regional government is called centralization, which is the opposite of devolution.

You're going to choose the correct pair of words to complete that sentence.

Take a few seconds to think.

Okay then.

So the transfer of powers to regional government is called devolution, which is the opposite of centralization.

Well done if you've got those in the correct order.

So let's explore devolution a little bit more.

So there we have the UK flag, we have parliament representing that national, that central governance.

And then from that we have the Northern Ireland assembly.

Now, that was established in 1998.

It's the headquarters, it's parliament, is in Belfast.

And the first Minister, so the person in charge of that, is Michelle O'Neill.

The Scottish Parliament, was established in 1999, and that is in Edinburgh.

And the first minister for Scottish Parliament is John Swinney.

And then we have the Senedd Cymru, the Welsh Parliament, and that was established in 1999 as well.

It's Parliament is in Cardiff right on the Bay.

And the first minister for the Senedd Cymru is Eluned Morgan.

The leaders in these devolved governments.

So looking at the first ministers, they are Members of Parliament in their devolved region.

So for example, a member of the Scottish Parliament an MSP.

A member of the Senedd, it's the MS or the Member of a Legislative Assembly, so an MLA.

So just like MPS and Councillors, they are elected into their roles.

Sometimes those ministers, as well as being a Member of Parliament in their devolved region, might also be a member of UK Parliament, but that isn't a requirement, they don't have to do both.

The ministers in these devolved regions are also supported by the civil service in that devolved region.

And again, Civil servants have specialist knowledge of the areas that they're work in, especially within their devolved region.

Take a look at this diagram then.

So there in the centre we have the UK Parliament, and then we have on the outside, something called the devolved powers.

So these devolved powers are the areas that used to be controlled by UK Parliament, and now they fall under the authority of the regional UK bodies.

And the things that they control, the things that they have authority over are the things which have the regional impact.

And then within that central band is things that are called reserved powers.

So reserved powers are policy decisions that still come under the UK parliament.

It's like they're reserving it for themselves, saving that for themselves.

And that's because their authority covers the stuff which has a UK-wide or an international impact.

Let's have a look at some of these key moments in devolution then.

So in 1997, there were referendums held in Scotland and Wales.

So that's like a vote given over to the people for them to decide directly, what they want to do.

And in Scotland and Wales, these referendums were for the devolution of power.

So to set up the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd Cymru, that's the Welsh Parliament.

In 1998, there was something called the Good Friday Agreement, and that gave Northern Ireland the right to its own governing assembly as well.

And then as we've looked on previous slides, the Northern Ireland assembly was set up in that same year in 1998 with the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments being set up in 1999 and functioning in 1999.

Let's jump forward a few years then in time to 2010.

And the Northern Island Act order meant that Northern Ireland got more responsibility for things like its own justice system.

So that includes the courts, the police, and the prisons.

And so they took control of that, rather than it being controlled by Westminster.

In 2012, the Scotland Act, gave more power to the Scottish parliament, again, transferred from Central.

And in 2014, Scotland held another referendum and this time it was to see what the residents wanted in terms of complete independence from the UK.

This was actually rejected by 55% of the people who voted.

In 2017, there was the Wales Act, and that gave more powers and more freedom to the Senedd to control things like tax, rail services, their own energy projects, and about organising their elections as well.

So you can see there's been a wide range of change in a relatively short space of time.

Now, Jacob is talking about devolution, but he's not quite right.

Can you change two of the words to make Jacob's sentence correct? This is what he's saying, "Devolved powers: areas that are controlled "by UK Parliament, "but were controlled by regional UK bodies." Can you make what he's saying correct by changing two of the words? Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, let's make Jacob's sentence correct.

Devolved powers are areas that were controlled by UK parliaments, but are now controlled by regional UK bodies.

Well done, if you corrected his sentence.

We've talked about Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland and how they have devolution, but we haven't mentioned England so far.

Now, England's system is not the same as Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and its policies and laws are still controlled mainly by UK Parliament.

It does have some limited devolution though for local regions.

And these are focused mainly on urban areas.

So London, Liverpool, Manchester.

But as I say, it's much more limited compared to the devolved powers that Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have.

And that's partly because the power that they have is legislative and executive.

So Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can create their own laws for some things, but with English devolution, it's only executive.

So that's just the policies and the decisions that are made.

They can't change laws, they can't create their own laws.

Now, the English devolution system, you often find that the areas of those regional governments are called combined authorities or mayoral authorities.

And as of March, 2025, there were 12 devolved regions in England.

We have the West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City region, West Midlands, West of England, Greater London, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, East Midlands, South Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire, Tees Valley, and the North East.

There's almost a constant dialogue about English devolution.

And there are many, many raw regions going through that process of making a devolution deal for their area.

And not just concentrated in urban areas either.

So we've got some of the more rural areas getting involved in the conversation as well.

Now, lots of the devolved regions tend to have a directly elected mayor, and the mayors are the chair, the leaders of that area's combined authority, and they're directly elected by the people in the area.

A little bit like you would do with councillors and MPs.

The mayor works with the combined authority and then they use the power that they've been given through the devolution deal to try and have that more control over things in their area.

And they tend to get more control over things like transport, housing, health and policing, stuff like education and skills and things like adult education as well and energy planning too.

Now, it's really important because we've mentioned the local government, central government and regional governments, and then the English devolved governments as well.

And all of these governments have to cooperate with each other.

So from the city councils, to the devolved parliaments to the central government, it's really important that they collaborate together.

They've got to try and make sure that the decisions are aligning and complementing each other, particularly if you get policies that overlap or the impact in more than one area.

For example, it would be incredibly rare for a person to only ever experience anything within their local council ward.

Life means that you end up having something to do with the city council or the UK parliament.

And so it's really important that those policies work together.

Some people might even live in one district and work in another.

Some people might live in one country and work in the other.

So for example, somebody might live in Wales but work in England or vice versa, or live in England and work in Scotland.

And so it's really important for all of these governments to cooperate and find ways to make their policies work together.

So this collaboration is going to help citizens in whichever region they live, whichever region they work.

And it's especially important that governments work together on some of the biggest issues that really do affect life for citizens in the UK.

Another check for understanding then, devolved regions in England have, hmm, powers.

Let's take a look at those words.

Is it legislative powers, executive and legislative powers or executive powers? I'll give you a few seconds to think.

Okay, devolved regions in England have executive powers.

Yes.

Jacob's reminding us that the English regions that have got devolve powers, they can't make their own laws that are still with the UK Parliament.

Well done if you got that one.

And now we're onto task B.

So this one is gonna draw together everything that we've talked about so far, and you're going to fill in this table to compare local, central and regional governments.

You're going to compare them by looking at the geographical areas.

You're going to compare them by looking at the roles and responsibilities and also about who the decision makers are, within that particular government.

As ever, it's a good idea to pause your video to give yourself the time to do this, and then we'll come back together and look at some possible answers.

Okay, let's go through and see what some possible answers are.

So with the local government for the geographical areas, they have authority over a local area like a town, city, or a county.

Central government has authority over the whole of the UK on many issues, and a regional government holds authority over a devolved region of the UK.

So for example, Northern Ireland.

For the roles and responsibilities, local government applies laws, set by central government and then decides how local services are run, having to stick within those laws.

Central government sets laws and policies that apply to all of the UK nations, that's what we call reserved powers.

And then regional government sets policies for devolved areas.

And that's the devolved powers, isn't it? And that some laws can be set in some regions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, for example.

But remember devolved areas in England, they cannot set laws.

And then onto the decision makers row.

So in local government, you've got councillors who make the decisions.

They're elected by the local residents and supported by council workers.

In central government, the decision makers are the Prime Minister and the cabinet.

They're elected ministers, aren't they, who are Members of Parliament or they might be in the House of Lords and they're supported by the civil service.

Finding regional governments, again, you have elected ministers and they will be part of the parliaments on the assembly.

And also you often get directly elected mayors of a regional area as well.

And then regional governments are supported by the civil service.

A really good job if you got those key differences, those key comparisons, between local, central and regional governments.

Well done.

Let's summarise our lesson then, which was called, What are the differences between local, regional and national governance? The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy.

The central government is led by the Prime Minister.

They make key decisions about things which affect the whole UK, along with those ministers placed on the cabinet by the Prime Minister.

The ministers are supported by the civil service.

Local government makes decisions on local issues and ensures that the services they provide, meet local needs.

Local governments are led by elected Councillors and supported by council workers.

Regional governments have devolved powers transferred from central governments.

The elected ministers or mayors make decisions for the areas that have a regional impact.

They are supported by the civil service or regional government workers in the devolved area.

Really good job for sticking with me through that.

You've done a fantastic job.

I hope to see you again soon.