§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the recent publication of their White Paper Your Regions, Your Choice: Revitalising the English Regions, how they will gauge whether or not there is sufficient public interest to trigger a regional referendum; and what procedure is to be adopted for holding such a referendum. [HL4431]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonChapter 9 of the White Paper,Your region, Your Choice, sets out the process by which an elected assembly can be established in a region. Box 9.1 sets out the key features of a referendum on an elected regional assembly, while paragraphs 9.2 to 9.4 discuss the process by which we will decide which region or regions should hold a referendum first. We will say more in due course about how we will gauge public interest and we have given a commitment to take decisions only after consulting all eight regions.