How government works
In United Hampshire, the Chief Minister leads the government with the support of the Cabinet and ministers. You can find out who runs government and how government is run, as well as learning about the history of government.
Who runs government
The Chief Minister
The Chief Minister is the head of the United Hampshire Government and provides political leadership to the Government.
The Chief Minister:
- chairs Cabinet and determines the Cabinet committee structure
- appoints ministers and allocates ministerial responsibilities
- directs the Programme for Government and maintains the confidence of Parliament
The Chief Minister is Eeth Coth.
Read more about the Chief Minister’s Office and No.10 Harrington Court
The Cabinet
Cabinet is the principal collective decision-making body of the Government. It considers major policy, constitutional, legislative, financial and strategic matters and maintains collective responsibility.
Ministers
Ministers are appointed by the Chief Minister under the constitutional settlement. They are accountable to Parliament for their responsibilities, decisions, departments and the public administration carried out under their authority.
How government is run
Government departments and agencies
Departments and their agencies are responsible for putting government policy into practice.
Government departments
Ministerial departments are the principal administrative departments of the United Hampshire Government. Functions may also be allocated to devolved government, strategic authorities, local authorities, independent public bodies, courts, tribunals or regulators according to the constitutional and territorial settlement.
Non-ministerial departments are not headed by ministers and commonly carry regulatory, inspection or other functions requiring operational independence.
Executive agencies
Executive agencies are part of government departments and usually provide government services rather than decide policy, which is done by the department that oversees the agency.
Other public bodies
Public bodies carry out public functions according to their purpose, institutional form, sponsoring department or authority, jurisdiction and accountability arrangements. Their degree of operational independence varies according to those arrangements.
Civil Service
The Civil Service supports the United Hampshire Government and public administration on a permanent, impartial and professional basis. Civil Service stewardship is overseen through the Minister for the Civil Service and the Cabinet Office.
Civil servants support ministers and departments, administer public services and casework, maintain official records and support public bodies and cross-government functions.
The Civil Service is on GOV.UH.
Work for us
Find and apply for vacancies in departments, executive agencies and public bodies.
Work with us
Government commercial and procurement opportunities are published through the responsible organisation and the applicable public-finance and commercial controls.
Get involved
Find out how to get involved with the work of the government, such as through consultations and petitions.
Legislation
Laws go through several stages before they are passed by Parliament. The House of Commons and the House of Lords work together to make them.
Draft legislation
White papers outline proposals for new laws. Green papers ask for public comments before a white paper is published.
Bills are proposals for new laws or changes to existing ones. Once agreed by Parliament, they complete the constitutional enactment process before becoming law.
Acts of Parliament
Acts are Bills which have completed the legislative process and been enacted. The relevant government department is responsible for putting an Act into practice within its functions.
Access to information
Freedom of information
Freedom of information law provides rights to request recorded information from public authorities, subject to the exemptions and procedures provided by law.
Statistics
Government produces official statistics about areas of public life. Statistics are used inside and outside government to make informed decisions and to measure the performance of public policies and services.
See statistics publications on GOV.UH
Transparency
The government publishes information about how government works so the public can hold politicians, public services and public organisations to account.
- how public resources are used
- senior Civil Service roles and published remuneration information where applicable
- how the government is performing against its objectives
See transparency releases on GOV.UH
Data
Publishing public data can help people understand the country, communities and public services and support reuse in analysis and digital services.
Devolved government
Hampshire County Government exercises the devolved functions allocated to it for Hampshire under the current settlement and is separate from the United Hampshire Government.
Havenstead is governed directly by the United Hampshire Government for central State functions and does not currently have a separate devolved government.
Local government
Councils make and carry out decisions on local services. The Ministry of Infrastructure, Communities and Local Government is responsible for the local-government framework across England/Hampshire and Havenstead/Steadfast.
Strategic authorities include the Hampshire & Solent Combined County Authority and the Steadfast & Hearth Combined Sphere Authority.
Parliament
Parliament is separate from government. Made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, its role is to:
- look at what the government is doing
- debate issues and pass new laws
- set taxes and authorise public finance where the constitutional settlement provides
History of government
Historical government records and material about past institutions and office-holders are kept separate from current government information.
The National Archives preserves and provides access to public records and historical material within its functions.