§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost, by English regions, of re-organising local government, should a decision be made to establish a regional assembly. [90701]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made no estimate of the cost of reorganising local government in the English regions as this will vary significantly, dependent on which regions opt for elected Regional Assemblies, the extent of two tier authorities in these regions, the changes recommended by the Boundary Committee for England and subsequent decisions made by the newly created authorities about their organisational structure and levels of service provision. As indicated in the draft guidance to the Boundary Committee on which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently consulting. A model is being developed to be available to the Boundary Committee, or those making proposals to the Committee, to assess the relative cost differentials of different unitary structures.