What does national government have to do with local government?
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain the relationship between local and national government and how the work of one impacts the other.
Key learning points
- National government makes laws and policies that local governments must follow.
- Local councils rely on funding and powers given by national government.
- Local councils deliver services and report local issues to national government.
- Local feedback helps shape national policies and decisions.
- National and local government work together to run the country effectively.
Keywords
National government - the group of people with the authority to govern a country; in the UK, the Government is chosen and led by the Prime Minister (PM)
Local government - a system of government that operates at a local level providing services to its community
Impact - the effect or influence of a decision or action
Common misconception
That national government can impact local government, but that local government has no impact on national.
Local governments can play a crucial role in shaping the work and direction of national government.
Teacher tip
Visit your local government website and identify how and why the national government impacts on these areas.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who are the group of people with the authority to govern a country?
Q2.Who chooses the national government?
Q3.The effect or influence of a decision or action is the what?
Q4.Which group are mainly responsible for organising services such as recycling, libraries and building regulations?
Q5.Who do local governments receive a large amount of funding from?
Q6.Match each national action to the correct local government impact.
improves public transport and tourism
upgrades council housing plans
runs local clinics and health checks
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match each role or responsibility to the correct level of government.
sets national laws and policies
collects bins and runs local services
shares information to help shape national decisions
Q2.The Environment Act 2021 meant local government had to consider their approach to ...
Q3.What is the name of the group who inspect schools for the national government?
Q4.Which statements are true?
Q5.Complete the sentence: Local helps shape national policies and decisions.
Q6.In 2024, Kent County Council raised concerns with national government about the high number of what?
To help you plan your 11 citizenship lesson on: What does national government have to do with local government?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 citizenship lesson on: What does national government have to do with local government?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 citizenship lessons from the Synopticity: How do different ideas and concepts in Citizenship interconnect? unit, dive into the full secondary citizenship curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.