§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what support he received from respondents to the soundings exercise from or about Cornwall and Scilly(a) in favour of a South West Assembly and (b) in favour of a Cornish Assembly. [121485]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe soundings exercise was to establish information, evidence and views on interest in a referendum about whether to establish an elected regional assembly on existing Government Office boundaries. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has only recorded information relevant to those questions and so did not record views for or against any assembly.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister in what circumstances and at what stage he plans to review the boundaries of the current Government-defined regions for the purpose of future discussions about directly elected Regional Assemblies. [121486]
§ Mr. RaynsfordAs made clear in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not ruled out in the longer term the possibility of adopting boundaries for regional assemblies that do not follow the existing boundaries. However we have no plans to amend boundaries in the short to medium term. Referendums on elected regional assemblies in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber regions will be based on Existing Government Office Regions. Any future proposals to change regional boundaries would follow the existing mechanism for changing Regional Development Agency (RDA) boundaries and would be the subject of legislative procedure in the Bill to establish elected assemblies. We will introduce a Bill when at least one region has voted to establish an assembly and parliamentary time allows.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to each consultation his Department has had on Government policy to create regional assemblies, how many, responses from or about Cornwall and Scilly he has received(a) in total, (b) which support the option of a referendum on a Cornish Assembly, (c) which support a proposition for a Cornish Assembly, (d) which support the option of having a referendum on a South West Assembly, (e) which support a South West Assembly, (f) which oppose any referendum and (g) which oppose the creation of any directly planned assembly. [121487]
§ Mr. RaynsfordNot all of the information requested is available. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received 130 written and e-mailed responses to the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice" that expressed an opinion on a Cornish Assembly. Of these, 122 supported either a Cornish Assembly or a referendum for a Cornish Assembly, while eight opposed any form of Cornish Assembly. We also 857W received 1,636 postcards in support of the Cornish Constitutional campaign for a referendum on a Cornish Assembly.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received 187 relevant responses to the soundings exercise to determine the level of interest in a referendum on establishing an elected regional assembly from individuals and organisations that identified themselves as coming from Cornwall or Scilly. Of these, 55 supported a referendum on an elected South West Assembly, and 129 opposed such a referendum. 335 preprinted responses that called for a referendum on a Cornish Assembly were received.