Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines

Graduate School - MASTERS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

REACTION PAPER
British Model of Local Government and Personnel Management
PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION

By: Rosalie Q. Capistrano

Through the article entitled British Model of Local Government and

Personnel Management written by Intae Choi published in Seoul, South Korea,
I have learned that the Great Britain is using a system of government which is
largely based in Local Autonomy.
Local autonomy can be defined as the extent to which local governments
have discretion in carrying out their obligations. This can never be interpreted
as absolute freedom for local governments to take whatever decisions they
like.1 As a point of comparison, the Philippines through decentralization of
powers and responsibilities by the National Government, Local Governments
are also granted autonomy, however, the decision making mostly still lies in
the executive department or the people since the Philippines is a republic. On
the other hand, in Great Britain, their decision making lies in their local
council and the executive are given only limited powers of administration and
personnel management.
Additionally, the local government is given quite a powerful role in letting
them design their organizational structure autonomously depending on their
budget. Having the power to change its administration in accordance with
changes of times will result to progress as they will be able to keep up with the
demands of such changes. However, to alter their organizational structure
every time there is a shift in the dynamic field of economy and politics will not
always result to a good outcome, thus, local governments must be wary in
exercising such power.
Finally, this system of government works due to the mutual trust
existing between the Central Government and the Local Governments, thus,
the same should be maintained by constant communication between the chief
executive and the local council which is in charged in decision making
processes. After all the central government may still exercise its right to
personnel management in local governments when it deems fit after mutual
consultation with the related committee, and in the absence of a committee, it
must go through a consultation process with the appropriate person in charge.

1
https://dullahomarinstitute.org.za/multilevel-govt/publications/doi-factsheets-4.pdf