PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE RELATING
TO THE REPORT
WEDNESDAY 21 MARCH 2001
Members present:
Tony Wright, in the Chair
| Mr Michael Trend | Mr Andrew Tyrie
|
| Mr Neil Turner | Mr Anthony D Wright
|
The Committee deliberated.
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Mr Michael Trend declared a non-pecuniary interest
in relation to the Committee's inquiry into Quangos in that he
was on the Board of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
Draft Report (Mapping the Quango State), proposed
by the Chairman, brought up and read.
Ordered, That the draft
Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.
Paragraphs 1 to 21 agreed to.
Paragraph 22 read, as follows:
"There is no formal "map" of the disposition
of NDPBs, ASPBs and quangos at sub-national and regional level
throughout the UK. Table 5 summarises the position so far as we
are able to ascertain it. The advent of devolved institutions
in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland increases the probability
of democratic oversight of quangos in these areas, but the position
in England is less satisfactory. Regional Development Agencies
are increasingly taking on a wider range of responsibilities in
liaison with regional government offices. In their regions these
appointed bodies are subject to check only by the indirectly elected
regional chambers, which are too large, unwieldy and under-resourced
to fulfil an oversight role. The Housing Corporation devolves
much of its activity to regional offices, but they too are unchecked
at regional level. Other major regional policy matters, such as
public transport, have no representative regional input; others,
such as land-use planning, involve weak and divided consortia
of local authorities. These considerations strengthen the case
for reassessing the need for elected regional bodies in the English
regions, as counterparts to the devolved assemblies in Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland, and to provide a unifying representative
role".
Amendment proposed, in line 12, to leave out from
the word "authorities" to the end of the paragraph.—(Mr
Andrew Tyrie.)
Question put, That the Amendment be made.
The Committee divided.
| Ayes, 2 | Noes, 2
|
| Mr Michael Trend | Mr Neil Turner
|
| Mr Andrew Tyrie | Mr Anthony D Wright
|
Whereupon the Chairman declared himself with the
Noes.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 23 to 42 agreed to.
Pargraph 43 read, as follows:
"But is the quango state "advancing"?
In Quangos: Opening the Doors the Government said that it was
"committed to reducing the number of NDPBs and will ensure
that a new NDPB will only be set up where it can be demonstrated
that this is the most cost-effective and appropriate means of
carrying out the given function". The LGIU study, however,
takes the view that the policies towards quangos of central government
departments, each pursuing their own objectives and initiatives,
are unco-ordinated and cumulatively damaging to local democracy
insofar as they undermine the powers and functions of local government.
This is an issue which troubled the Committee at the time of its
last Report and we remain concerned that, despite welcome moves
by government to create links between new local bodies and local
authorities, there are dangerous gaps in accountability at the
level of local governance. We return to our earlier recommendation
of "a regional structure of accountability" to provide
monitoring and oversight of many quangos at regional and local
level. The regional dimension of the quango state is expanding
fast and new responsibilities are already being piled on the new
regional development agencies. But these developments are not
bedded down in democratic arrangements. We therefore welcome the
renewed interest within government to introducing legislation
to allow the people in the English regions to decide whether they
want directly-elected regional government. Elected regional authorities
in England would give the asymmetric devolution settlement that
has emerged from the Government's devolution legislation a better
overall balance. They could provide a new structure of accountability
not only for regional and local quangos, but for the quango state
as a whole. The government's regional offices in England could
also be given a democratic underpinning. Scotland and Wales now
have the opportunity for democratic oversight of quangos in their
countries; nothing less is required for the English regions where
the great majority of citizens of the United Kingdom live. But
that is for the future."
Amendment proposed, in line 15 to leave out from
the word "arrangements" to the end of the paragraph—(Mr
Andrew Tyrie.)
Question put, That the Amendment be made.
The Committee divided.
| Ayes, 2 | Noes, 2
|
| Mr Michael Trend | Mr Neil Turner
|
| Mr Andrew Tyrie | Mr Anthony D Wright
|
Whereupon the Chairman declared himself with the
Noes.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 44 agreed to.
Annexes agreed to.
Resolved, That the Report
be the Fifth Report of the Committee to the House.
Ordered, That the Chairman
do make the Report to the House.
Ordered, That the provisions
of Standing Order No 134 (Select Committees (Reports)) be applied
to the Report.
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