Regional Assemblies (Hansard, 12 December 2002)

§ Mr. Hancock
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his proposed direction to the Boundary Committee on the timetable of reviews490W of local government structure in areas which give a positive reaction to holding a referendum on regional assemblies. [86711]

§ Mr. Leslie
The Government launched a consultation on draft guidance to the Boundary Committee for England on 2 December 2002. Should the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill become law, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister would then decide in which region or regions there should be a local government review. A review is likely to take around nine to 12 months to complete.

§ Mr. Evans
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many letters he has had(a) in support of and (b) in opposition to the establishment of a regional assembly in (i) Yorkshire and the Humber, (ii) the South East, (iii) the South West, (iv) the East of England, (v) the West Midlands, (vi) the East Midlands and (vii) the North West; what his estimate is of the cost of a referendum on regional government in each of those regions; what research he has commissioned into the likely outcome of a referendum on regional government in each of those regions; and what his estimate is of the cost of local government reorganisation in each region should regional government be established. [85341]

§ Mr. Leslie
The White Paper "Your Region, Your Choice" was not a consultation exercise, except on the issue of stakeholder involvement with elected regional assemblies, and therefore did not invite views either for or against the principle of establishing assemblies. However, between the dates of 9 May 2002, when the White Paper was published, and 30 November 2002, we recorded 1,200 written and e-mailed pieces of correspondence on the subject of elected regional assemblies. Of those which can be identified by region, responses were identified as follows16 in favour, 33 opposed and 27 either undecided or expressing mixed views in Yorkshire and the Humber; 18 in favour, 142 opposed and 56 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the South East; 26 in favour, 123 opposed and 124 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the South West; 491W 11 in favour, 35 opposed and 23 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the East of England; 16 in favour, 165 opposed and 19 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the West Midlands; 7 in favour, 27 opposed and 14 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the East Midlands; and 29 in favour, 45 opposed and 34 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the North West. There were also 30 responses in favour, 10 opposed and 18 either undecided or expressing mixed views in the North East.
The remaining 152 responses either came from elsewhere, or were e-mailed responses for which no region of origin could be identified.
In addition, we have received 2,333 cut-out coupons as part of a campaign organised by Conservative MEPs in the South East opposing an elected regional assembly in the region, and 1,595 postcards as part of a campaign organised by the Cornish Constitutional convention in support of a referendum for a Cornish Assembly.
Based on the cost of local authority mayoral referendums using all-postal ballots, the cost of a referendum may range from about £2 million in the North East to about £6 million in the South East.
No research has been commissioned into the likely outcome of a referendum on regional government in each region. But the Government launched a soundings exercise on 2 December to find out the level of interest in each English region in holding a referendum on establishing an elected regional assembly. Views, information and evidence have been requested by 3 March 2003 and will inform the Secretary of State's consideration of the level of interest in each region in holding a referendum.
It is not possible, at this stage, to make an estimate of the cost of local government reorganisation in each region, as much will depend on the precise details of the structure and boundary changes proposed by the Boundary Committee following the local government reviews.