HC Deb 18 March 2003 vol 401 cc743-4W
Mr. Hammond

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the reasons were for his Department's decision to publish the summary of the comments and enquiries received following the publication of the White Paper on Regional Governance. [103261]

Mr. Raynsford

The Government's White Paper `our Region, our Choice' included a formal consultation on the involvement of stakeholders in the work of elected regional assemblies. It also invited views on the proposals set out in the White Paper generally.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published on 24 February an analysis of the views received in response to the consultation on stakeholder involvement, as is our usual practice.

Given the interest in our regional policy proposals both within and outside Parliament we concluded that it would be helpful and informative to publish a summary of the more general responses as well.

Mr. Hammond

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to propose legislation setting out the powers of the proposed elected regional assemblies. [103267]

Mr. Raynsford

The Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill now before Parliament makes provision for referendums on elected regional assemblies and for the associated local government reviews. Once at least one region has voted for an elected assembly, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister intend, when parliamentary time allows, to introduce a further Bill providing for the establishment of elected regional assemblies. This would make the necessary legislative provision for their constitutions, elections, powers and responsibilities. The Government's proposals on these matters are set out in the White Paper `our Region, our Choice' (Cm 5511). The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will also consider whether a Bill might be published in draft before the first referendum.

Mr. Peter Atkinson

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many responses were received by his Department to the consultation on the interest in holding a referendum on regional government in the north-east. [103142]

Mr. Raynsford

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister asked for responses by 3 March on the level of regional interest in each English region in holding a referendum for an elected regional assembly. We have received over 4,500 responses to date, of which just over 3,000 have been logged. Of those logged so far, approximately 300 are from the north-east.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is continuing to log responses and are beginning to evaluate them. We will announce our decisions after the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill has received Royal Assent.