There are nine Northern Ireland government departments: You can find more information and contact details for each department at this link: In the UK, the Prime Minister leads the government with the support of the Cabinet and ministers. Northern Ireland’s education minister, Peter Weir, said last week that he would put £45 million from a government education enhancement program toward improving 18 schools. Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818. Where a statutory body is trading, its relationship with its own customers and the need to balance its accounts ensures some financial discipline; but a non-elected body providing, on a non-commercial basis, a service which is largely or wholly financed out of taxation, may give too low a priority to considerations of efficiency and economy. The Act of Union, which entered into force in 1801, abolished the Irish Parliament and provided for Irish representation in the British Parliament. The Present Structure of This Commission, whose chairman is Lord Feather, is at work. Population counts can vary substantially, even within a single LAD, but the national average is about 5,500. The effect of the Northern Ireland Act 1974 was to provide that for an interim period, initially one year from July 1 1974, the legislative functions of the Northern Ireland Assembly would be suspended and laws made for Northern Ireland by Orders-in-Council; no appointments to a Northern Ireland Administration would be made; and the Northern Ireland Departments would discharge their functions subject to the direction and control of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Detailed information on the administrative structure within Northern Ireland. Cabinet of Ministers drawn from, and answerable to, the elected the system of government commands widespread acceptance on a continuing 9 Department of the Environment 32 Another version of an entrenched safeguard is the concept of a blocking mechanism, which enables a particular section of the community to prevent, or at least to delay, legislation which it considers to be against its vital interests. The arrangements are different for each, reflecting their history and administrative structures. Thus a governing party in the United Kingdom has all Department or public body, and it provided that a person who believed himself to be a victim of such discrimination should have the right to bring a court action against the authority concerned. such as planning, roads, water and sewerage, are managed and administered directly by the appropriate Department, although with a high degree of delegation of responsibility for day-to-day decisions to local officers of those Departments. Further information on statistical wards, Census Area Statistics (CAS) wards and Standard Table (ST) wards, is available here. Government is more than a question of a constitutional structure [17] In June 2010 the proposed reforms were abandoned following the failure of the Northern Ireland Executive to reach agreement. the business of government, so that there may be government by and Welsh Assemblies, only Northern Ireland within the United chemists and opticians); and personal social services (including child care and adoption). 7 Department of Housing, Local Government and Planning If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads. including the creation of the offices of Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Commissioner for Complaints. The counties and county boroughs continue to exist for the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty. The UK government remains responsible for national policy on all matters that have not been devolved, including foreign affairs, defence, social security, macro-economic management and trade. Initially there were 108 members in the Assembly, with six representatives from each of the 18 constituencies in Northern Ireland. Julian Smith, Britain’s secretary of state for Northern Ireland, defended the proposed financial package and urged the region’s ministers to “get on with it.”. the economy. The region is also grappling with the consequences of its bloody three-decade guerrilla war, which ended in 1998. process, they are not enough as a permanent role for a whole community. Reference has already been made in Part 2 to the safeguards of this character embodied in the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. education or health and social services. The main requirement Power sharing was restored at Stormont, the regional legislature that had collapsed in 2017 over sectarian divides on social and cultural policies, after the main political parties reached an agreement brokered by the governments of Britain and the Republic of Ireland.