Chapter 5: Government, Law & Your Role — Set 6

In England and Wales (and Northern Ireland) the age of criminal responsibility is 10: younger children cannot be arrested or charged with an offence.

The handbook gives Scotland’s age of criminal responsibility as 8, lower than the age of 10 in England and Wales. (Scotland raised its age to 12 in 2021, after the handbook was published.)

The licence fee funds the BBC, paying for its TV, radio and online services so they can be broadcast without advertising.

Anyone held at a police station has the right to free, independent legal advice — for example from a duty solicitor — before and during questioning.

The driver is legally responsible for ensuring that passengers under 14 wear a seat belt or an appropriate child restraint; older passengers are responsible for themselves.

The Welsh Government is led by the First Minister of Wales, in the same way that the First Minister of Scotland leads the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Parliament sets the rates and bands of income tax on the earnings of Scottish taxpayers; VAT, corporation tax and fuel duty remain reserved to Westminster.

10 Downing Street in London is the Prime Minister's official residence and office; the Chancellor of the Exchequer's official residence is next door at 11 Downing Street.

Chequers, a country house in Buckinghamshire, is the official country residence of the Prime Minister.

The benches in the House of Commons chamber are green, while those in the House of Lords are red.

The benches in the House of Lords chamber are red; it is the House of Commons whose benches are green.

Black Rod is the official sent to summon members of the House of Commons to the Lords chamber to hear the monarch's speech at the State Opening; the Commons door is traditionally shut in Black Rod's face first, symbolising the Commons' independence.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the public body that prosecutes most criminal cases investigated by the police in England and Wales.

The Central Criminal Court in the City of London is commonly known as the Old Bailey, after the street on which it stands.

Magistrates are volunteers from the local community who do not need any legal qualification; they receive training for the role and are advised on points of law by a legal adviser in court.

The Bank of England, whose headquarters are on Threadneedle Street in the City of London, is nicknamed the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.

The third statement is false. A jury is made up of 12 ordinary members of the public, selected randomly from the electoral register, and people aged 18 to 70 may be called to serve. It is the jury — not the judge — that decides whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty; the judge runs the trial and passes sentence.

Hansard covers both Houses of Parliament: it is the official published record of debates and proceedings in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Anyone can read it — it is published by Parliament, including online.

In two-tier areas of England, a county council covering the whole county shares local services with district councils covering smaller areas — for example, the county council typically handles social care and education, while district councils handle things like housing and local planning.

You can write to your MP at the House of Commons in London; MPs can also usually be contacted by email and hold regular local surgeries.

If the dates in a jury summons clash with something important, such as a booked hospital operation, you can ask the court to defer your service to a later date — but ignoring a summons can lead to a fine. Jurors must decide the case only on the evidence heard in court, so they must not research it online or discuss it on social media. Jurors are not paid a salary, although they can claim expenses.

Every year, councils carry out an annual canvass of households to check and update the electoral register, adding people who have moved in and removing those who have left.

The DVLA keeps records of drivers and vehicles — including driving licences and registered vehicles — and collects vehicle tax.

The last statement is false — there is no property qualification for voting. To vote in a General Election you must be aged 18 or over and your name must be on the electoral register. You can vote in person at a polling station, by post, or by proxy, where someone you trust votes on your behalf.