ABSTRACT
The Secretary of State (SoS) is an elected member of Parliament chosen by the Prime Minister to head this particular department of government. Although the SoS is 'charged with the responsibility of securing consistency and continuity in the framing and execution of national policy' under the Minister of Town and Country Planning 1943, this did not take the form of a national plan as in some other countries, that is, a plan for the development of land on a state-wide basis. The units of local government and the functions they undertake are determined by Parliament: in other words, local government in Britain exists purely at the discretion of Parliament. The Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 established Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in each of the nine English regions. In London, RDAs will be part of the Greater London Authority and are, therefore, established from April 2000 in accordance with the timetable for that authority.
