Administrative structures

The hierarchical structure of governmental administration in England and Wales is shown in Figure 2.1 . At the top of the hierarchy, the heart of the political machine, is the Cabinet of officials representing the political party in power, and producing policy proposals which are subjected to the democratic process of parliamentary debate by elected Members of Parliament. Parliamentary legislation controls the activities of the civil service at the central and local level. The administration of society in the UK at the central level comprises central government departments. Those of particular interest to us here are the Department of the Environment (DoE), with responsibilities which include the allocation of central funds to local authorities for welfare provision, the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) (after 1988 , the Department of Health) administering the National Health Service (NHS), the Department of Education and Science (DES) and the Department of Transport (DoT).