35-843: The British National Space Centre ( BNSC ) was an agency of the Government of the United Kingdom , organised in 1985, that coordinated civil space activities for the United Kingdom . It was replaced on 1 April 2010 by the UK Space Agency . BNSC operated as a voluntary partnership of ten British government departments and agencies and Research Councils . The civil portion of the British space programme focused on space science , Earth observation, satellite telecommunications, and global navigation (for example GPS and Galileo ). The latest version of
70-925: A public–private partnership funding scheme to demonstrate key technologies of the SABRE engine for the proposed Skylon spaceplane . BNSC Partners: Video clips 51°34′02″N 1°47′08″W / 51.5672°N 1.7855°W / 51.5672; -1.7855 Government of the United Kingdom King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee The government of
105-561: A greater or lesser degree (for instance Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster or Lord Privy Seal ). The government is sometimes referred to by the metonym " Westminster " or " Whitehall ", as many of its offices are situated there. These metonyms are used especially by members of the Scottish Government , Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to differentiate their government from His Majesty's Government. The United Kingdom
140-453: A ground resolution of 2.5 m. Much smaller and cheaper than other imaging satellites of similar high resolution, TopSat has been used to demonstrate the feasibility of providing images on demand to portable ground stations, such as that which might be deployed by the military or another disaster relief organisation. TopSat was built in the United Kingdom by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd , QinetiQ and The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory under
175-478: A member of either House of Parliament. In practice, however, the convention is that ministers must be members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords to be accountable to Parliament. From time to time, prime ministers appoint non-parliamentarians as ministers. In recent years such ministers have been appointed to the House of Lords. The government is required by convention and for practical reasons to maintain
210-412: A new House of Commons, unless the prime minister advises the monarch to dissolve Parliament , in which case an election may be held sooner. After an election, the monarch selects as prime minister the leader of the party most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons, usually by possessing a majority of MPs. Under the uncodified British constitution , executive authority lies with
245-594: A substantial grant from the government, the Sovereign Support Grant , and Queen Elizabeth II's inheritance from her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother , was exempt from inheritance tax . In addition to legislative powers, His Majesty's Government has substantial influence over local authorities and other bodies set up by it, through financial powers and grants. Many functions carried out by local authorities, such as paying out housing benefits and council tax benefits, are funded or substantially part-funded by
280-424: Is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch (that is, the king or queen who is the head of state at any given time) does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament. This constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with Magna Carta in 1215. Since
315-596: Is not vital. A government is not required to resign even if it loses the confidence of the Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House. The House of Commons is thus the responsible house . The prime minister is held to account during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject. There are also departmental questions when ministers answer questions relating to their specific departmental brief. Unlike PMQs, both
350-746: The Disaster Monitoring Constellation . In November 2008, BNSC announced new contributions to ESA and an agreement in principle to establish an ESA centre at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire . The ESA facility at Harwell was opened officially on 22 July 2009. The name of the ESA centre is the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications . In February 2009, BNSC, ESA and Reaction Engines Limited announced
385-743: The European Space Agency . BNSC staff represented the UK at the various programme boards of ESA and also its governing Council. In 2004, the budget for BNSC headquarters was approximately £500,000 (US$ 1 million). From January 2009, the BNSC was headquartered in Swindon , Wiltshire, in the same building as the Science and Technology Facilities Council ( Research Councils ) and the Technology Strategy Board . BNSC
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#1732852796875420-473: The Greater London Authority disputed. Similarly, the monarch is immune from criminal prosecution and may only be sued with his permission (this is known as sovereign immunity ). The sovereign, by law, is not required to pay income tax, but Queen Elizabeth II voluntarily paid it from 1993 until the end of her reign in 2022, and also paid local rates voluntarily. However, the monarchy also received
455-648: The Planck cosmic microwave background mission. In the field of Earth observation, projects include the ESA ADM-Aeolus wind profiling mission, for which UK industry is the prime contractor and CryoSat-2 which is directed by UK scientist Professor Duncan Wingham of University College London . Recent BNSC activities include the Mosaic small satellite programme, which led to the launch of the TopSat high resolution EO mission and also
490-503: The Crown, who may use them without having to obtain the consent of Parliament. The prime minister also has weekly meetings with the monarch. What is said in these meetings is strictly private; however, they generally involve government and political matters which the monarch has a "right and a duty" to comment on. Such comments are non-binding however and the King must ultimately abide by decisions of
525-606: The European Parliament are immune from prosecution in EU states under any circumstance. As a consequence, neither EU bodies nor diplomats have to pay taxes, since it would not be possible to prosecute them for tax evasion. When the UK was a member of the EU, this caused a dispute when the US ambassador to the UK claimed that London's congestion charge was a tax, and not a charge (despite the name), and therefore he did not have to pay it—a claim
560-544: The UK civil space strategy which defined the goals of BNSC was published in February 2008. Notably the BNSC had a policy against human spaceflight, and did not contribute to the International Space Station . Rather than being a full space agency as maintained by some other countries, BNSC HQ comprised about thirty civil servants on rotation from the partners. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
595-453: The United Kingdom , officially His Majesty's Government , abbreviated to HM Government , is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . The government is led by the prime minister (currently Keir Starmer since 5 July 2024) who selects all the other ministers . The country has had a Labour government since 2024. The prime minister Keir Starmer and his most senior ministers belong to
630-817: The astrometry Gaia mission , for which UK industry is supplying the detectors, avionics, software and data processing electronics; and the James Webb Space Telescope , for which a UK consortium led by the UK Astronomy Technology Centre is building the European part of the Mid Infra Red Instrument (MIRI) [3] . The UK has contributed the SPIRE instrument for the Herschel Space Observatory and detector and cooling system technology for
665-440: The cabinet ministers for the department and junior ministers within the department may answer on behalf of the government, depending on the topic of the question. During debates on legislation proposed by the government, ministers—usually with departmental responsibility for the bill —will lead the debate for the government and respond to points made by MPs or Lords. Committees of both the House of Commons and House of Lords hold
700-658: The central government. TopSat TopSat ( T actical Op erational Sat ellite, also known as TopSat 1 and TacSat 0 ) is a British Earth observation satellite , currently in Low Earth Orbit . The nanosatellite was launched in October 2005 alongside the Beijing-1 Disaster Monitoring Constellation satellite by a Cosmos rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. TopSat carries out imaging with
735-411: The charity commissions) are legally more or less independent of the government, and government powers are legally limited to those retained by the Crown under common law or granted and limited by act of Parliament. Both substantive and procedural limitations are enforceable in the courts by judicial review . Nevertheless, magistrates and mayors can still be arrested and put on trial for corruption, and
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#1732852796875770-436: The confidence of the House of Commons. It requires the support of the House of Commons for the maintenance of supply (by voting through the government's budgets) and to pass primary legislation . By convention, if a government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a general election is held. The support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without delay,
805-409: The exchequer to be a member of the House of Lords was Lord Denman , who served for one month in 1834. The British monarch is the head of state and the sovereign , but not the head of government . The monarch takes little direct part in governing the country and remains neutral in political affairs. However, the authority of the state that is vested in the sovereign, known as the Crown , remains
840-525: The government has powers to insert commissioners into a local authority to oversee its work, and to issue directives that must be obeyed by the local authority if the local authority is not abiding by its statutory obligations. By contrast, as in European Union (EU) member states, EU officials cannot be prosecuted for any actions carried out in pursuit of their official duties, and foreign country diplomats (though not their employees) and foreign members of
875-755: The government on the statement. When the government instead chooses to make announcements first outside Parliament, it is often the subject of significant criticism from MPs and the speaker of the House of Commons . The prime minister is based at 10 Downing Street in Westminster , London. Cabinet meetings also take place here. Most government departments have their headquarters nearby in Whitehall . The government's powers include general executive and statutory powers , delegated legislation , and numerous powers of appointment and patronage. However, some powerful officials and bodies, (e.g. HM judges, local authorities , and
910-477: The government to account, scrutinise its work and examine in detail proposals for legislation. Ministers appear before committees to give evidence and answer questions. Government ministers are also required by convention and the Ministerial Code , when Parliament is sitting, to make major statements regarding government policy or issues of national importance to Parliament. This allows MPs or Lords to question
945-464: The government. Royal prerogative powers include, but are not limited to, the following: While no formal documents set out the prerogatives, the government published the above list in October 2003 to increase transparency, as some of the powers exercised in the name of the monarch are part of the royal prerogative . However, the complete extent of the royal prerogative powers has never been fully set out, as many of them originated in ancient custom and
980-433: The period of absolute monarchy , or were modified by later constitutional practice. As of 2019, there are around 120 government ministers supported by 560,000 civil servants and other staff working in the 24 ministerial departments and their executive agencies . There are also an additional 20 non-ministerial departments with a range of further responsibilities. In theory, a government minister does not have to be
1015-436: The satellites of Inmarsat , the UK based mobile satellite operator. The BNSC partnership co-funded a private sector project led by Avanti Communications [2] to build a satellite called HYLAS to provide broadband communications to rural and remote users. Current projects in the field of space science include LISA Pathfinder , for which UK industry is the prime contractor and UK universities are building major payload elements;
1050-433: The source of executive power exercised by the government. In addition to explicit statutory authority , the Crown also possesses a body of powers in certain matters collectively known as the royal prerogative . These powers range from the authority to issue or withdraw passports to declarations of war. By long-standing convention, most of these powers are delegated from the sovereign to various ministers or other officers of
1085-642: The sovereign, although this authority is exercised only after receiving the advice of the Privy Council . The prime minister, the House of Lords, the Leader of the Opposition, and the police and military high command serve as members and advisers of the monarch on the Privy Council. In most cases the cabinet exercise power directly as leaders of the government departments , though some Cabinet positions are sinecures to
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1120-400: The start of Edward VII 's reign in 1901, by convention, the prime minister has been an elected member of Parliament (MP) and thus answerable to the House of Commons, although there were two weeks in 1963 when Alec Douglas-Home was first a member of the House of Lords and then of neither house. A similar convention applies to the position of chancellor of the exchequer . The last chancellor of
1155-572: The supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet . Ministers of the Crown are responsible to the House in which they sit; they make statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior ministers this is usually the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords . The government is dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation , and general elections are held every five years (at most) to elect
1190-584: Was directed by the Minister for Science and Innovation, Paul Drayson . The BNSC was the third largest financial contributor to the General Budget of the European Space Agency , contributing 17.4%, to its Science Programme and to its robotic exploration initiative the Aurora programme . Investments were also made in the ESA telecommunications programme 'ARTES' in order to develop payload technology used, for example, in
1225-603: Was the 'host' department and provided the central policy staff including the Director General. The last DG, Dr. David Williams, was the first to have been externally appointed. Much of Britain's yearly civil space budget of £268 million was contributed by the Department of Trade and Industry (until the DTI was broken up in 2007) or controlled by the partnership rather than the BNSC, and about three-quarters of that budget flows directly to
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