§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the reasoning behind their proposal that a regional assembly for north-west England, serving approximately 7 million people, should have not more than 35 members, compared with the National Assembly for Wales which serves approximately 3 million people and has 60 members; and what extra powers are possessed by the National Assembly for Wales which justify the difference in numbers. [HL4300]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonThe arguments for regional assemblies of 25 to 35 members are set out in paragraph 7.7 of the White Paper,Your Region, Your Choice, published on 9 May. Regional assemblies in England will have a significant range of powers, but, unlike the National Assembly for Wales, we are not proposing that assemblies should have powers on such matters as the National Health Service, education, social services, local government or agriculture, nor will they have powers to make secondary legislation. We believe that comparison between regional assemblies in England and the Geater London Assembly, with 25 members representing some 7.3 million people, is more relevant.
§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why, in any devolution referendum in north-west England, the electors of Merseyside and Greater Manchester should have a vote on the future local government structure in Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. [HL4301]
86WA
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonVoters in Merseyside and Greater Manchester would not be asked to vote on the future local government structure in Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. Voters in the north-west region as a whole would be asked whether they support the Government's proposals for an elected regional assembly for their region. In casting their vote, they would be able to take account of the associated proposals for restructuring local goverment in the region.
§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether in any devolution referendum in northwest England the electors of Lancashire will have the final say on the future structure of local government in that county, or whether their views may be over-ridden by the votes of electors in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cumbria. [HL4302]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonThe future local government structure in areas which currently have two tiers of local government wound depend on the recommendations of the Boundary Committee and on whether the region as a whole voted in favour of having an elected assembly.
§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the likely strength of party groups in regional assemblies in the North East, North West and Yorkshire, established on the basis of the proposals in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, if people voted as they did at the last general election. [HL4303]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonThe table below shows the proportion of votes given to the different parties at the 2001 general election in the three regions.
Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat Other North East 21.3 59.4 16.7 2.6 North West 29.3 50.7 16.7 3.3 Yorkshire & the Humber 30.2 48.6 17.1 4.0 The voting system for elections to regional assemblies is described in paragraphs 6.11 to 6.13 of the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, published on 9 May. Annex G illustrates in detail how the system works. As the White Paper says, we expect that the overall representation in an assembly will be broadly representative of the votes cast. However, it could be misleading to give an estimated outcome based on the results from a different type of electoral system (first-past-the-post for a general election) and where other factors are also unknown (eg, the exact proportion of "top-up" seats and the effect of the 5 per cent vote threshold for representation in an assembly).
§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in view of the proposal in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, to allow elected regional assemblies in England to precept on the council tax in their region, they intend to legislate 87WA for a similar power for the National Assembly for Wales. [HL4304]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonNo. There are significant differences between the responsibilities and budget of the National Assembly for Wales and those proposed for elected regional assemblies in England. We have followed the precedent of the Greater London Authority in proposing a precepting power for regional assemblies in England, but this does not mean that we believe that a precepting power is also necessary for the National Assembly for Wales.
§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many member countries of the United Nations have a smaller population than the North West of England region as defined in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice. [HL4305]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonBased on the most recent estimates of population, we believe that 97 of the 189 members of the United Nations have a population below that of the north-west region of England.
§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many and which quangos would be brought under the direct control of elected regional assemblies in the North East and the North West respectively under the proposals in the White Paper on regional government. [HL4333]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonAn elected regional assembly would be responsible for the Regional Development Agency in its region. It would take on the strategic and resource allocation role of the local office of the Housing Corporation.
It is also the Government's intention that accountability and funding for the arts and sports which are regional in character will be devolved to an assembly in a way which protects national priorities. In putting this into practice on arts, the Government will take account of the experience of the new regional framework and any reviews of it. In deciding the best arrangements to apply this principle to sport, the Government will take account of the current review of sport in England by the Performance and Innovation Unit and the quinquennial review of Sport England.
In addition, elected regional assemblies will have influence over a range of public bodies, including the Learning and Skills Council, the Small Business Service, the Highways Agency, the Strategic Railways Authority, the Environment Agency, the Countryside Agency and English Nature.
§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many civil servants are currently employed by government departments with a specific northwest remit; and how many would be transferred to the direct employment of the North West Assembly under the proposals set out in the White Paper on regional government. [HL4334]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonApproximately 325 staff work for the Government Office for the North West,88WA which carries out activities on behalf of nine government departments. The number of posts to transfer to an elected assembly for the North West will depend on the number of posts devoted to the relevant function at the time of transfer but might be in the region of 50 to 100 posts.
§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will lay down criteria such as minimum size for unitary local authorities that may be proposed as part of schemes for regional government in England; and, if so, what they will be. [HL4335]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonWe will be asking the Boundary Committee for England to recommend the best 100 per cent unitary structure for a region, having regard to the twin criteria of needing to reflect the identities and interests of local communities and securing effective, convenient local government.
§ Baroness Hanhamasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the estimated cost of introducing directly elected regional government in each of the eight regions. [HL4368]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonCosts will vary from region to region, mainly because of the different sizes of their electorates. But we expect them all to fall in a range around £15 million to £30 million a region. This estimate includes all costs necessary to establish an assembly, including the cost of a referendum and of the first elections to an assembly.
As chapter 5 of the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, says, we expect regional assemblies to bring about savings and other benefits which need to be set against their costs. We believe that an elected regional assembly is a public investment that can have a major impact on a region's productivity and prosperity, as well as increasing democratic accountability over decisions taken at the regional level.
§ Baroness Hanhamasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the regions as defined in the White Paper are those which equate to regions of the European Union. [HL4370]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonSuccessive UK governments have established the boundaries of the regions that will now be used for elected regional assemblies. With some changes over time, they have been used for certain administrative and statistical purposes since the Second World War. They are now used by, for example, the Government Offices and regional development agencies and for the constituencies for European parliamentary elections. These UK boundaries are also recognised by the European Union for relevant purposes, but the boundaries are ones that the UK Government and Parliament have decided.