§ Sir Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the proposed size of an individual constituency in an elected regional assembly in the north-west of England. [76218]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe size of an individual constituency will depend on the total number of members of the assembly in each region. As set out in chapters 6 and 7 of the Regional Governance White Paper, an assembly would have between 25 and 35 members in total, mainly depending on its size of population, and around two-thirds of members would represent individual constituencies. The average population per constituency in the north-west would therefore be between around 290,000 (with 23 constituency members) and around 420,000 (with 16 constituency members).
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§ Sir Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria will be used to determine the level of support necessary in Cheshire for the establishment of a regional assembly in the North West of England; and what level of turnout will be used as the democratically legitimate measure for an affirmative vote in any proposed referendum on regional Government in the North West of England. [76217]
§ Mr. RaynsfordAs the Regional Governance White Paper,Your Region, Your Choice, said, the primary factor in deciding where a referendum should be held will be the level of interest in holding a referendum in each of the eight regions. A subsidiary factor will be the need to avoid unnecessarily distracting local government with unitary reviews where there is only limited demand for a referendum (paragraph 9.3).
An affirmative vote at a referendum will occur if a majority of those voting at the referendum vote in favour of establishing an elected assembly for their region.
§ Joyce QuinTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the outcome of the consultation on the White Paper on Regional Governance. [74098]
§ Mr. Nick RaynsfordThe White PaperYour Region, Your Choice formally invited comments on stakeholder involvement with elected regional assemblies; the closing date for responses was 31 August 2002. But the White Paper also offered the opportunity for general views to be submitted—there is no deadline for these views and comments are still being received.
To date, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received around 1,100 representations on the White Paper, of which around 200 offered comments on stakeholder involvement with elected assemblies
In addition, we have received around 1,500 postcards in support of the Cornish Constitutional Convention campaign for a referendum on establishing a Cornish Assembly.
We are currently undertaking detailed assessments of stakeholder responses, and of general responses to the White Paper. These will be published on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website later in the year. We will then set out our further proposals on stakeholder involvement, taking into account views expressed in the consultation.
It remains the case that we intend to introduce a Bill to provide for referendums and associated local government reviews as soon as Parliamentary time allows, with the aim of enabling the first referendums to be held during this Parliament.
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Vacant Dwellings by Tenure in Devon by Local Authority Area at 1 April 2001 Local authority1 Registered Social Landlord2 Other Public1 Other Private1 of which: Owner occ.1 Total East Devon 27 18 0 2740 2693 2785 Exeter 40 56 2 820 # 918 Mid Devon 18 15 0 841 698 874 North Devon 0 23 0 2475 2050 2498 Plymouth 417 161 297 3633 2943 4508 South Hams 0 24 0 4576 # 4600