Layers of Government and the Role of MPs and MLAs
Who decides what, and who you actually contact when something goes wrong. The layers of government in Northern Ireland, what each one controls, and the three jobs every elected representative is doing at once.
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Different decisions, different places
Nobody decides everything. Bin collections, hospital waiting times and immigration rules are all decided by government, and by three different parts of it. That is what **layers of government** means: each layer has its own elected representatives and its own list of things it controls. It is not a technicality. If you take a problem to the wrong layer, nothing happens, and knowing which one handles what is a large part of what this topic tests.
Four kinds of elected representative
Each layer has its own, elected separately.
Match each layer to what it decides
- A local council
- The Northern Ireland Assembly
- The UK Parliament
- Why the split matters to a citizen
- Waste and recycling, leisure centres, parks, local planning and environmental health
- Transferred matters such as health, education, agriculture and justice
- Matters kept for the whole UK, such as defence, foreign policy and immigration
- Taking a problem to the wrong layer wastes time, because that layer has no power over it
Who do you actually contact?
A road near your house has been badly potholed for months. In Northern Ireland, who has the power to get it fixed?
- The Assembly, through the relevant department, since roads are not a council responsibility in Northern Ireland
- The local council, because roads are always a local matter
- Westminster, because it funds Northern Ireland
- Nobody: potholes are the responsibility of the people who live on the road
The layer that changed
Your specification lists the **European Parliament** among the layers of government, and it was written before things changed. Northern Ireland used to elect **three MEPs**, who sat in the European Parliament alongside members from every other member state, and EU law applied here. **The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020.** Since then the UK has not elected MEPs and is not represented in the European Parliament, which continues to exist as a layer of government for the states that are still members. Learn it as a layer that existed and what it did. If a question asks about the layers today, say plainly that the UK no longer takes part, and give the date.
What should you write today?
A question asks you to describe the layers of government affecting someone in Northern Ireland. How should you deal with the European Parliament?
- Explain that it was a layer, that Northern Ireland elected three MEPs to it, and that the UK left the EU in 2020 so it no longer applies
- Describe it as a current layer, since that is what the specification says
- Leave it out entirely, since it no longer applies
- Explain whether leaving the EU was the right decision
Making law and checking it
An elected representative is doing several jobs at once, and two of them pull in different directions.
Match each role to what it looks like
- The representative role
- The legislative role
- The scrutiny role
- Committee work
- Holding a constituency surgery and taking up a resident's case
- Voting on a bill and proposing an amendment to it
- Putting a question to a minister in the chamber and pressing for an answer
- Going through a bill line by line, or calling officials to give evidence
Who does a representative represent?
Select the TWO statements that describe the representative role correctly.
- They represent everyone in the constituency, including people who voted against them or did not vote at all
- Much of the work is casework: individual constituents bringing problems that need taking up with an authority
- They represent only the people who voted for them
- Their only duty is to vote as their party instructs
The layers in a paragraph
Northern Ireland has _____ local councils, which deal with matters such as waste and leisure but not with roads or education. Health and education are transferred matters decided by the _____, where _____ MLAs sit. Defence and immigration are decided at _____. Northern Ireland also elected three MEPs until the UK left the EU in _____.
What scrutiny actually achieves
**"Explain how MLAs and MPs hold the government to account. (6 marks)"** "They question ministers directly in the chamber, as at Question Time, which forces a minister to defend a decision in public and on the record rather than in private. They also serve on committees, which go through bills line by line and can call officials to give evidence, so problems are found before a law is passed rather than afterwards. The opposition's role adds to this: by challenging decisions and setting out an alternative, it makes the government explain why its version is better." Three mechanisms, each with what it actually achieves attached. Naming Question Time and stopping there is worth one mark of the six.
Explain a Private Members' Bill
Build an accurate sentence about Private Members' Bills.
A letter arrives
A constituent writes to their MLA about a hospital appointment cancelled three times. Work through what happens next.
- Is this the right person to write to?
- The MLA takes the case up with the trust and gets this constituent an appointment. Which role is that?
- The MLA then discovers hundreds of similar cancellations. What is the stronger next step, and why?
Your turn: explain the system
Someone new to Northern Ireland asks who decides what, and who they should contact about a problem. Explain it to them.
- Name the layers of government and give one responsibility of each
- Explain one thing that is NOT a council responsibility here but is elsewhere
- Explain the three roles an MLA or MP performs, with an example of each
- Say what has changed about the European Parliament as a layer, and when