To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will abolish the English Regions Network.

The English Regional Network is a voluntary body that represents regional assemblies at a national level; as such the Secretary of State does not have the power to abolish it. A consultation paper on the Review of Sub National Economic Development and Regeneration was published on 31 March which included proposals to remove regional planning powers from regional assemblies and a response to that consultation will be issued in due course.