The United Kingdom has three distinctly different legal systems, each of which derives from a particular geographical area for a variety of historical reasons: English law, Scots law, Northern Ireland law, and, since 2007, calls for a fourth type, that of purely Welsh law as a result of Welsh devolution, with further calls for a Welsh justice system.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting. Its main offices are at 100 Parliament Street, occupying part of the building known as Government Offices Great George Street.
Referendums in the United Kingdom are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Historically, national referendums are rare due to the long-standing principle of parliamentary sovereignty. Legally there is no constitutional requirement to hold a national referendum for any purpose or on any issue however the UK Parliament is free to legislate through an Act of Parliament for a referendum to be held on any question at any time.
Regional policy is the sum of a series of policies formulated according to regional differences to coordinate regional relations and regional macro operation mechanism, which affects regional development at the macro level. It includes regional economic policy, regional social policy, regional environmental policy, regional political policy, regional cultural policy, etc.Regional policy aims to improve economic conditions in regions of relative disadvantage, either within a nation or within a supranational grouping such as the European Union. Additionally, a regional policy may try to address high levels of unemployment and lower-than-average per capita incomes. Its main tool is public investment.
The Welsh Language Board was a statutory body set up by HM Government under the Welsh Language Act 1993. It was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body. It began its life under John Walter Jones, and its last chief executive was Meirion Prys Jones, with Meri Huws acting as chair.
A grant is a financial award given by a government entity, foundation, corporation, or other organization to an individual or organization for a specific purpose. Unlike loans, grants do not need to be repaid, making them an attractive source of funding for various activities, such as research, education, public service projects, and business ventures. Examples include student grants, research grants, the Sovereign Grant paid by the UK Treasury to the monarch, and some European Regional Development Fund payments in the European Union.
Politics in Wales forms a distinctive polity in the wider politics of the United Kingdom, with Wales as one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (UK).
The economy of Wales is part of the wider economy of the United Kingdom, and encompasses the production and consumption of goods, services and the supply of money in Wales.
On 26 June 2003, EU farm ministers adopted a fundamental reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and introduced a new Single Payment Scheme for direct subsidy payments to landowners.
A Cornish Assembly is a proposed devolved law-making assembly for Cornwall along the lines of the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly in the United Kingdom.
Dylan Jones-Evans was born in Bangor, Gwynedd and brought up in Pwllheli on the Llyn Peninsula. He is currently Assistant Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise) and the chair in entrepreneurship at the University of South Wales. He is visiting professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Turku in Finland, newspaper columnist and the creator of the Wales Fast Growth 50, an annual barometer of entrepreneurial firms in Wales.
Welsh independence is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom.
Agriculture in the United Kingdom uses 70% of the country's land area, employs 1% of its workforce and contributes 0.5% of its gross value added. The UK currently produces about 54% of its domestic food consumption.
The regions of England, formerly known as the government office regions, are the highest tier of sub-national division in England. They were established in 1994 and follow the 1974–96 county borders. They are a continuation of the former 1940s standard regions which followed the 1889–1974 administrative county borders. Between 1994 and 2011, all nine regions had partly devolved functions; they no longer fulfil this role, continuing to be used for limited statistical purposes.
The United Kingdom, being in the British Isles, is ideal for tree growth, thanks to its mild winters, plentiful rainfall, fertile soil and hill-sheltered topography. In the absence of people, much of Great Britain would be covered with mature oaks as well as savannah-type of plains, except for Scotland. Although conditions for forestry are good, trees face threats from fungi, parasites and pests. Nowadays, about 13% of Britain's land surface is wooded. European countries average 39%, but this varies widely from 1% (Malta) to 66% (Finland). As of 2021, government plans call for 30,000 hectares to be reforested each year. Efforts to reach these targets have attracted criticism for planting non-native trees, or trees that are out of place for their surroundings, leading to ecological changes.
In the United Kingdom, devolution is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies: the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and combined authorities.
Federalism in the United Kingdom aims at constitutional reform to achieve a federal UK or a British federation, where there is a division of legislative powers between two or more levels of government, so that sovereignty is decentralised between a federal government and autonomous governments in a federal system.
The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed in December 2020. Its purpose is to prevent internal trade barriers within the UK, and to restrict the legislative powers of the devolved administrations in economic policy. It is one of several pieces of legislation concerning trade that were passed following the European Union membership referendum, as after Brexit the UK is no longer directly subject to EU law.
The objectives of the international relations of Wales are the promotion of Wales and Welsh interests abroad, the development of the Welsh economy and the positioning of Wales as a globally-responsible nation. Responsibility for Welsh international relations currently lies with the First Minister of Wales, but the responsibility can also be delegated. Relations are primarily undertaken through a network of 21 international offices operated by the Welsh Government, with representation in London, Belgium, Canada, China, Ireland, France, Germany, India, Japan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and in five offices across the United States. Additionally the Welsh government has signed agreements or memoranda of understanding with other countries and regions including the Basque Country and the Ōita Prefecture in Japan. This permanent representation is supplemented by overseas visits undertaken by the First Minister, and other officials, often timed to coincide with Saint David's Day, the feast day of the Welsh patron saint, and by an annual focus on a specific nation, "Wales in Germany" in 2021, "Wales in Canada" in 2022 and "Wales in France" in 2023.
