§ Ann WintertonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the representatives to the Committee of the Regions will come from the elected members to the proposed regional assemblies. [171782]
§ Mr. RaynsfordAt present, in addition to nominations received from the Local Government Association, each English regional chamber and the Greater London Authority nominate one member and one alternate to be proposed by the Government as English members of the Committee of the Regions.
As stated in the white Paper, Your Region, Your Choice: Revitalising the English Regions (Cm 5511—May 2002), the Government intends that in those regions where an elected regional assembly is established, the assembly will take the role for its region currently exercised by the regional chamber. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will consult on the detail of the nomination process in advance of nominations for the committee to be instituted in 2006.