Clause 23 - Funding for regional chambers
Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill
6:30 pm
Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State (Local and Regional Government), Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Greenwich and Woolwich, Labour)
Before I come to amendments Nos. 85 and 86, I shall pick up the issue raised by the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge, who highlighted the fact that the clause starts with the words
''The Secretary of State may make a grant to any person''.
Lest the hon. Gentleman's paranoia extend enormously, and lest there be real anxiety about funds being channelled to consultants such as Streeter, Streeter and Streeter, and other potential beneficiaries, I should make something clear. The provision is designed to cover circumstances in which chambers may be constituted in their own right, as is the case with South East England Regional Assembly Ltd., or may have an accountable body—often one of the local authorities in the region—that acts as the recipient. The provision is an entirely appropriate framework that allows the transfer of funds to one such body, rather than requiring it to go to the local authority in all cases.
There is precedent for the provision. For example, section 126 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, which has already been referred to, opens with the words,
''The Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, give financial assistance to any person in respect of expenditure incurred in connection with activities which contribute to the regeneration or development of an area.''
Amendment No. 85 would mean that any grant that the Secretary of State made to the regional chamber in connection with its role as a regional planning body could be made only by a statutory instrument, which would be subject to affirmative resolution. It is difficult to understand why that level of scrutiny is considered necessary for relatively small sums, although a great number of grant-making powers are not subject to such onerous conditions.