Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
10 Institutional arrangements
10.1 Introduction
We noted in the previous chapter that some institutions concerned with the
maintenance of civil order and the making and enforcement of laws are prerequisites
for the functioning of the State. Insofar as it then seeks to intervene in particular
fields - transport being one - additional institutions will be needed to provide advice
to Government and to implement its policies. The administrative Civil Service
is the immediate resource created for this purpose, including staff of the Scottish
Executive and the Welsh Assembly in relation to functions transferred to the devolved
administrations. The further, more detailed arrangements currently in operation are
the subject of this chapter.
The responsibilities of Government are so diverse and the associated workload so
great that its activities have to be broken down in various ways. The manner of this
sub-division will have implications for general concerns of efficiency, effectiveness and
accountability and will also set the context for the way particular policy issues are
treated. Setting up a single-purpose body for example may provide clear direction and
accountability as far as that particular activity is concerned but at the same time make
co-ordination with related activities more difficult. In practice a compromise has to
be found.
We have already highlighted the differences of purpose and accountability
between public and private bodies. Hence a policy decision of fundamental
importance is whether a particular activity should fall within the responsibility of any
public institution, and if so the role it should perform. A key distinction in relation
to transport industries is whether the State should seek to own and operate their
infrastructure and services or whether it should seek to regulate or incentivise their
operation by private firms.
Although each public body is in some abstract sense working for the public good it
will in practice be interpreting this in terms of its statutory responsibilities and of the
policy remit set by the Government currently in office. Whether and how an issue
falls within its patch will strongly influence how it responds. The issue of fuel taxation
for example will be viewed very differently by public bodies with responsibility for
transport, environment, industry or public finance. Similarly the view which a local
authority takes towards a transport proposal is likely to depend very much on whether
this is seen as contributing to or resolving problems within its area. Hence the way that
public responsibilities are organised - functionally and geographically - is itself a key
area of policy choice.
 
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