Clause 67
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Stewart Jackson (Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Peterborough, Conservative)
The hon. Gentleman is as astute as ever in his observation that our policy is indeed about allowing local authorities to work together where there is commonality of interest, particularly on economic matters. One of our key areas of concern about regional policy since 1999 is the lack of recognition of the fact that regional government and policy is a top-down concept and does not take significant account of the particular social, economic and demographic issues that relate between authorities. To take the example of the hon. Gentleman’s own region, the economic issues in west Cornwall might as well be a million miles away—in a different galaxy—from those affecting the Forest of Dean, for instance, or east Dorset. The same is true of Milton Keynes compared with Thanet, in the south-east region.
Regional government has also failed to deliver what was once promised on expenditure, for instance. Some £13 billion was spent by regional development agencies between 1999 and 2008, and salaries have gone from £38 million to £120 million. There has been a 159 per cent. increase in the running costs of RDAs. I will come back to some of those figures later.
I am concerned about the confusion in the Government over the representations of the sub-national review. The Government said, following consultation, that they
“expect the RDAs to delegate responsibility for spending to local authorities or sub-regions wherever possible unless there is a clear case for returning spending to the regional level”.
They also said:
“Legislation is not needed to deliver the spirit of the sub-national review reforms.”
At the same time, officials in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform were advising the Department for Communities and Local Government that
“RDAs cannot delegate responsibility for the spending of their budget...RDAs will still have to formally approve projects proposed by sub-regional partners and we will be accountable for them.”
There is clearly a tension in the Government between their public protestations about devolving local power to local councils and key stakeholders and what is being said in central Government, which is effectively that the purse strings, power, influence and decision making will remain central.