§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has received on the inclusion of those parts of Cleveland south of the River Tees in(a) a Yorkshire (b) a northern and (c) a north-eastern region. [5082]
§ Dr. WhiteheadWe have no record of any formal representations for the inclusion of Cleveland, south of the River Tees, in the Yorkshire and the Humber region, the old northern region or the north-east region.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what criteria are applied in defining the Government's standard regions for England. [5101]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe 'standard English regions' emerged from local government reorganisation in 1974 and resulted in the creation of eight regions which were used by a large number of Government Departments (though not all) for planning purposes, and became the standard regions for statistical purposes. These boundaries often continue to be termed standard regions.
In 1994, the creation of the Government Offices (GOs) resulted in a new delineation of regions within England, (now generally referred to as GO boundaries). These reflected the boundaries of the then Regional Boards and the regional organisations of the (then) Departments of Transport and Environment. The GO regions are also of a more equally distributed population size than the standard regions.
The existing GO boundaries have now become increasingly well-established, reflecting the Government's commitment, in the "Modernising Government" White Paper, that, where possible, all Government bodies should align with GO boundaries.
As my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced on 2 July 2001, Official Report, column 80W, the Government intend to publish a White Paper on regional governance in England. This will set out the Government's thinking on a range of issues, including regional boundaries.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what considerations he has given to the creation of a Wessex(a) region and (b) regional assembly. [5080]
§ Dr. WhiteheadAs my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced on 2 July 2001,Official Report, column 80W, the Government intend to publish a White Paper on regional governance in England. This will set out the Government's thinking on taking forward plans for elected regional assemblies, including the issue of regional boundaries.
361W
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has received about including Cumberland and Westmorland in regions based on(a) Newcastle and (b) Manchester. [5081]
§ Dr. WhiteheadWe have no record of any formal representations for the inclusion of Cumbria in the north-west and north-east regions.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has received on the inclusion of north Lincolnshire and north-east Lincolnshire in(a) a Yorkshire region and (b) an east midlands region. [5083]
§ Dr. WhiteheadWe have no record of any formal representations for the inclusion of north and north-east Lincolnshire in the Yorkshire and Humber and east midlands regions.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the Government purposes for which, at 31 May 1997, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were included with(a) Dorset and Wiltshire, (b) Sussex and Surrey and (c) Berkshire, with or without other counties in each case. [5099]
§ Dr. WhiteheadAs at 31 May 1997, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were part of the South West and Wessex Regional Health Authority, which also included the counties of Dorset and Wiltshire. This changed in April 1999, when Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were aligned with the South East Regional Health Authority. On 31 May 1997, the Environment Agency's south and west region, based largely on the GO south-west region, included a small part of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. That remains the case. For all other Government purposes, as far as we can ascertain, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were, on 31 May 1997, included in the GO south-east region with the counties of Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what requests he has received that Cornwall should not be included in a region which includes Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire. [5078]
§ Dr. WhiteheadOn 11 July I met the hon. Members for St. Ives (Andrew George), North Cornwall (Mr. Tyler), and Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor), to discuss their views on an elected Cornish assembly. I have also had a number of other representations on this matter.