| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Ms Hughes: I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman is trying to draw me into a debate on some form or other of proportional representation as a means of increasing democratic participation, but I shall not be drawn down that route. He will know that the aim of increasing participation in local, European and, indeed, national elections concerns us. Turnouts in local elections and, in some areas, European elections are of great concern. We need to address that issue because as politicians we cannot feel that we have much of a mandate unless more people participate in elections.
The hon. Member for St. Ives briefly raised the question of how regional government might relate to our proposals for city mayors. I welcome the opportunity to comment on that. As the hon. Gentleman said, the Local Government Bill provides for strong mayors--possibly city mayors--based on existing local authority areas and functions. That raises some interesting questions. We share the public's belief, revealed in a number of surveys, that mayors offer a good prospect of rejuvenation of local democracy in some areas. City mayors have the potential to be important players on the regional scene.
Debates about regional governance have to engage with the local agenda. Through the Local Government Bill and the opportunities it provides, we are deliberately
attempting to create the potential for greater plurality and fluidity in the democratic landscape at regional and sub-regional level. We have started from the belief that if we can infuse some diversity into our democratic arrangements, we are likely to arrive at different arrangements in different areas which are more likely to engage local people. We are approaching a state of fluidity.Through the Local Government Bill, we are attempting to strengthen local authorities and give them a power of well-being and some strategic responsibilities, and to enable the establishment of elected mayors. In all of that, we are trying to change the stultified and unified form of local democratic structures. The implications for the future of regional government are that different arrangements will unfold in different regions. To the extent that that was the thrust of the argument advanced by the hon. Member for St. Ives, I agree with him.
Mr. David Drew (Stroud): I would recommend the Spanish model. That country had to learn how democracy functions very quickly; it did so by allowing its different regions to develop at different speeds. It is no use asking the Spanish how it works: their response would be, "It works." Rather than look at all the concepts and theories, they simply allow their democracy to flourish.
Ms Hughes: My hon. Friend makes a very valid point, citing an extremely interesting example.
With devolution at a higher level in Wales and Scotland, and our efforts to strengthen local government and create fluidity, a climate is generated in which we cannot foresee the way in which the political landscape at regional and sub-regional level will pan out. We are providing for difference and diversity. Perhaps the end result will not be what the hon. Member for St. Ives wants, but we are creating the potential for different arrangements to be arrived at according to different time scales in different parts of the country. We shall have to wait and see how that works out. A key element in any future arrangement will be local people's perception of what is right for their area.
We have begun by creating regional development agencies to address urgent economic and regeneration issues in the regions. They are beginning to have a considerable impact, both individually within each region, and collectively to even out performance as between the regions. People will want take into account the RDAs' impact if and when they decide whether they want to go further and establish directly elected assemblies. The extent to which a local RDA has an impact will have a bearing on the formulation of local people's views on that issue.
In addition, we now have chambers in all the eight regions. It is important to mention those, as they are widely inclusive partnerships of all the stakeholders. They are not directly elected, but they comprise the elected representatives of the constituent authorities. They are developing an interesting role in different parts of the country and they are certainly adding value in many areas. The south-west of England regional chamber, in particular, has worked closely and constructively with the
South West of England regional development agency on economic strategy and is working on planning guidance. The agencies have a real role to play.One of the core arguments of the hon. Gentleman's speech concerned what he referred to as the Government's "definition" of the regions. When we drew up the boundaries of the regional development agencies, we decided to base them on the areas covered by Government offices for the regions. Obviously, there were administrative and common-sense reasons for doing so. The boundaries already existed and had become familiar building blocks to constituent institutions, such as local authorities, and the areas offered population levels at which it was felt that regional economic strategies could make a difference.
I was interested in the hon. Gentleman's comment about the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster), who leads for the Liberal Democrats on policy in this area--the hon. Gentleman said that his hon. Friend was now convinced that regions could be of different sizes and have different boundaries from those of Government offices and RDAs. One of the key points in a paper produced by one regional Liberal Democrat party in January on directly elected regional assemblies was that such assemblies would take over from the RDA and the Government office. That implies a clear acceptance of the existing regional boundaries.
I accept politically all that the hon. Gentleman said about celebrating diversity and difference and about that being an important part of our national heritage and cultural life. I would add another argument to his analysis, however, as I do not think that that celebration necessarily requires that all the administrative and strategic structures should be coterminous with the area one thinks has a clear coherent cultural identity.
Another question that we need to ask, in terms of a democratically elected institution, or an organisation such as an RDA, for example, is what the regional structure is for. There are questions about the sort of strategic decision making and the area for which it is sensible to think about that--whether it is for transport, economic development and regeneration or whatever. What sort of area is it sensible for the institutions to cover to have the scope to make the sort of strategic decisions that will have an impact on the people who live there?
Mr. George: I do not know where the paper to which the Minister referred came from, but I spoke to the Liberal Democrat party's official spokesman before this debate and party policy is certainly clear, as I set out.
On the subject on which the hon. Lady was elaborating, does she accept that there is a potential conflict? I mentioned branding. Clearly, a place with a distinctive identity could use it for economic purposes and gain. However, if a region without an identity surrounds it and wants to establish its own identity, there could be a conflict. It would be far better to establish a region that recognises cultural diversity because there are clear economic as well as administrative benefits.
Ms Hughes: In response to the hon. Gentleman, I am minded to cite my region in the north-west. The regional development agency, and any future directly elected
assembly, will cover the north-west region. The organisations involved in the convention are not discussing any boundary other than the existing north-west Government office boundary as a suitable boundary for any future directly elected assembly.Within that area, there is no difficulty with Manchester, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Liverpool and parts of Cheshire and Lancashire having, for other purposes, under the umbrella of the north-west region, their own clear branding and institutions of their own to market and propagate that branding for inward investment purposes. From my experience, there does not seem to be a contradiction. Sub-regions may have distinct identities and may perform certain functions and yet be part of a larger region that might be necessary for other strategic purposes. It may make sense to have the scale of population, area or resources of the larger region, to bring about the changes that will benefit all the people in all the sub-regional divisions.
I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, and I know that he comes to the debate with a great deal of feeling. I acknowledge that, but I point out to him another argument. Noting and celebrating cultural diversity does not necessarily mean that the area that is culturally distinct must, for all purposes, have its own directly elected body or administrative agency. The celebration of diversity and difference is entirely compatible with a wider regional identity for other strategic purposes for which that makes sense.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned objective 1, the control of bureaucracy and red tape, and the possibility of a single point of entry as a means of overcoming problems that existed in the past. The Government office will provide a single point of entry for project applications, although discussion is still taking place with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. There are still issues to be resolved, but the Government office is working hard to achieve a single point of entry.
I am delighted that Cornwall and Scilly have secured objective 1 status. As the hon. Gentleman knows, that will bring in a substantial amount of additional money over the next seven years. That will offer an important opportunity to help to turn around Cornwall's economy. There is great potential for the local partners to have a say in the programmes and projects through which the money will be spent and change will be achieved.
In the various initiatives that we have taken, particularly the new deal for communities, and continuing through the strategy for neighbourhood renewal, it is a hallmark of this Government that we have learned the lessons of the past. Such projects and programmes are not sustainable unless they are owned by the people whom they affect, and unless the people feel that they have a real stake in what is done and the way in which it is done. Through the priority management groups and the programme monitoring committee, which is made up of representatives of the various sectors within the region, the local partners will have a substantial say.
The hon. Gentleman said that the Government seem intent on the gradual extinction of Cornwall, but we have no such objective. We certainly do not want Cornwall to become extinct. We want it to continue to celebrate its
many strengths and to build on those to the benefit of its people. For the reasons that I have outlined, I cannot say here and now that, in future, Cornwall will have its own directly elected assembly; but the Government are not into control freakery. We want the communities in the regions to engage in the process of enhancing democratic participation and to feel that they have a stake in the future of their area, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will acknowledge that the Government are doing a great deal to achieve that. We shall support Cornwall in future in any way we can.
- Adjourned accordingly at fourteen minutes to Ten o'clock.
| Index | Home Page |