§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the likely impact on regional businesses of incorporation of regional development agencies into future regional assemblies. [165211]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Government's plans for elected regional assemblies in the English regions and their relationship with the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) are set out in the White Paper "Your Region, Your Choice". In regions which choose to have elected regional assemblies the RDA will become accountable to the assembly but will retain its present day-to-day operational independence. In appointing the RDA Board members the assembly will be required to ensure that the Chair and at least half the Board have had recent or current experience of running a business. Business will therefore continue to be at the heart of the decision-making process for regional economic development.
As now, regional business will be able to contribute to the formation and delivery of the regional economic strategy. A key role of the elected assembly will be to improve the region's sustainable economic performance by ensuring the region's economic development strategy is integrated with policies and strategies on related issues such as skills, planning, housing and transport. This will enable business to benefit from better targeted policies.
Moreover, business will be able to help shape the assembly's work on this and more generally through the arrangements that will be put in place for stakeholder involvement. Elected assemblies will be required actively to involve stakeholders in their work—which could include scrutiny, policy development, consultation and implementation. As a key stakeholder, regional business will therefore have a range of opportunities to influence issues which affect them.
A draft of the Bill to establish elected regional assemblies, including their structures, powers and functions, will be published before the first referendums are held.