Memorandum by the Northern Region Liberal
Democrats (DRA 34)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Liberal Democrats have advocated Regional Government
for many years and have given careful and detailed consideration
as to how it would work. As the North East is the first English
Region to be given the opportunity to have a democratically-elected
Regional Assembly, the Northern Region Liberal Democrats have
a particular interest in the issue.
Over the past year our Policy Committee (Chair
Cllr John Shipley) has made a detailed consideration of how a
future Regional Assembly would work.
A. OVERVIEW
Local democracy
1. Liberal Democrats believe in the importance
and value of an elected Regional Assembly. It will enable the
people of the North-East to make decisions locally on matters
that affect them.
2. We see the defining task of the Regional
Assembly as providing the political leadership necessary to meet
the challenges facing the NE arising from our increasingly global
economy.
3. Our democratically-elected Regional Assembly
will take control of regional Quangos and other non-elected, publicly-funded
regional bodies, and make them directly accountable to the people
of the region through the Assembly. It is our aim that all such
unelected organisations will eventually be made responsible to
the elected Assembly; initially we expect that the Assembly will
take charge of those Quangos relevant to the powers and functions
of the Assembly. The Assembly must have the powers to streamline,
merge or abolish regional Quangos under its control.
Jobs
4. The NE has a proud history. Our natural
resources and manufacturing strength helped to create the Industrial
Revolution. Yet in the post war period, and particularly in the
past twenty years, the impact of the decline in coal, iron and
steel and shipbuilding has required the region to re-shape itself.
This we have done in partnership both with Government and with
the private sector with impressive results in some areas. The
service sector has generated many thousands of jobs and our employment
rate is at an all-time high.
5. Yet manufacturing has suffered disproportionately
in this region because of underinvestment and a misguided exchange
rate policy and there are now serious dangers that the expansion
of the service sector may stall and even go into reverse. The
NE cannot stand still in the face of this. We need a Regional
Assembly capable of delivering a strong and dynamic regional infrastructure
that will in turn underpin the creation of the new jobs that will
secure our future.
6. We believe that the Regional Assembly
must become the focus for driving forward the changes necessary.
It must make the NE internationally recognised as England's best
region to invest in, one which offers a labour force and a quality
of life second to none. This means that we must reverse the negative
stereotypes of the NE. It also means that the Government must
empower the Regional Assembly to lead on all matters relating
to the NE's economic development. Integration of the work of the
Government Office for the NE with the work of One North East,
the LSCs and the local authorities under the leadership of the
Regional Assembly will be central to the economic success of the
NE over the next two decades.
7. It will be essential for the Regional
Assembly to demonstrate a clear unity of purpose. It will fail
if it permits conflict between sectors, agencies or geographical
interest. It will also fail if it does not earn the support of
the private sector and its representative organisations since
most of the jobs created will need to be generated by the private
sector.
The new politics
8. Liberal Democrats believe that an elected
Assembly must be radically different from current political structures.
We are determined that an elected Assembly will be truly democratic,
responding to the needs and wishes of all the people of the NE.
Liberal Democrats will ensure that the Assembly will be open,
transparent and inclusive of the many different communities in
the region.
9. The Regional Assembly must not become
a bureaucratic, inwardly-focused body. If it does, it will spread
further disillusionment with political institutions in the NE.
It must be run in an open and participative way. It must not replicate
the functions of others better equipped to act. Just as we need
a regional economy that adds value, so our Regional Assembly must
add value to our political structures.
Open, Inclusive, Accessible
10. We state our clear intention to ensure
that our candidates for the Regional Assembly will include equal
numbers of women and men, and will be representative of all age
groups, and come from all parts of the region, and from minority
communities and the disabled, to ensure that the Assembly fully
and fairly represents all the people of the region. All Liberal
Democrat candidates will be vetted to ensure their ability and
commitment to making the Assembly work effectively for the people
of the North East
11. We will ensure that Assembly meetings
are open and accessible to press and public. We will ensure the
right of any organisation or individual in the region to petition
the Assembly and to put their case directly to Assembly members.
We will seek the best qualified staff to work for the Assembly
and ensure that the organisations under Assembly control do their
work without political interference subject to overall Assembly
policies.
An effective voice
12. Liberal Democrats will ensure that an
elected Assembly will be an effective voice for the North East.
So, we will work with others to achieve high and stable levels
of employment, recognising the importance of existing businesses,
encouraging the conditions which will allow more graduates to
settle in the NE and more small businesses to be created and to
expand. Whilst we welcome inward investment that has long-term
sustainability or which creates new skills in our workforce, there
are three fundamental policy initiatives that will drive our economic
success. These are:
— Creating the conditions in which
new ideas and new products can be brought successfully to the
market.
— Improving the transport infrastructure
in the NE to overcome our distance from mainland Europe and the
rest of the UK.
— Developing through education and
training the full potential of our workforce to enable us to compete
with the best in the world.
New ideas
13. Bringing new ideas and products to market
is fundamental to the development of new indigenous companies
and industries in the NE. An entrepreneurial culture must be encouraged
and exploited with a venture capital company offering shares to
all citizens of the region. We need more investment by our own
people in our emergent SMEs with a business culture that is prepared
to take more risks underpinned by our own money.
Transport
14. Secondly, securing funding for major
improvements to our transport infrastructure for road, rail, air
and sea is crucial. Without this, we may not be able to compete
on cost with other regions which need to commit less resource
to the movement of goods.
Education and training
15. Thirdly, a world-class education system
is fundamental to success in today's global economy but that educational
system has to recognise that economic advance and advantage is
propelled by technology. Role models are essential to encourage
more NE students to study science, computing and engineering.
If the NE is to be at the forefront of developing leading-edge
and sustainable technology, we need to adopt educational policies
that support that aim. Educational achievement must be stimulated
from KS3 with much more practical and theoretical training in
IT, design, construction, science, engineering and communications.
Sustainability
16. Liberal Democrats want a NE in which
environmental sustainability is central to our planning, which
protects the needs of our rural areas and which proactively supports
our communities in need of regeneration. We want to see investment
in our inner urban areas rather than development of green belt
or high quality agricultural land since this will bring back life
to our inner cities and turn them into places where people of
all ages feel able to live and work.
Links with Europe
17. We need to build on our strong links
with Europe and we recognise that the NE is crucially dependent
on its exports to Europe. We must build on the research capacity
of our universities which are increasingly central to the economic
vitality of the region. And we need to build on our under-developed
tourist potential particularly in the cultural field.
B. KEY POLICY
OBJECTIVES
18. Liberal Democrats believe that the Regional
Assembly will be judged on its ability to deliver the following
key policy objectives:
19. An entrepreneurial economy
— Focusing on helping and building
high quality, high value/high wage, sustainable businesses especially
those already in the region.
— Devising local programmes targeted
to the NE's needs rather than national programmes designed for
the Midlands and the South administered by Whitehall.
— Bringing together the best people
from regional agencies, the civil service, business and the universities
to work together on common programmes.
20. Achieving higher educational standards
— Solving the vocational education/skills
shortage.
— Increasing HE participation rates
and support for continuing education.
— Expanding provision in ICT and technology
from KS3.
21. Addressing rural issues
— Creating jobs in rural areas linked
to low-cost homes and transport.
— Building up the economic potential
of tourism creating a revitalised countryside for the prosperity
of local people and the enjoyment of tourists.
— Empowering farmers to take greater
charge of their own destinies.
22. Building balanced communities
— Making sure that homes are built
where they are needed, catering for affordable homes for those
who need them, and re-using brownfield sites in an environmentally
sustainable way.
— Regenerating communities where needed,
involving the whole community, and making them places where people
are proud to live and aiming for all homes being of a decent standard.
— Tackling the causes of homelessness,
with a regional homelessness strategy which will provide homes
and support for people with special needs and vulnerable tenants.
23. Democratising the institutions of regional
government
— Ensuring all regional policies reflect
a regional consensus and that regional representative bodies and
a civic forum are fully involved in policy making and scrutiny.
— Enabling the Assembly to meet in
different locations across the region.
— Undertaking meaningful consultation,
always providing options and formally reporting on consultation
results.
24. Enhancing culture, sport and the arts
— Improving the tourism infrastructure
and creating a region-wide approach to marketing.
— Encouraging an active citizenship
driven by popular engagement in culture and sport.
— Restoring local libraries as centres
of learning and creativity.
25. Improving the transport infrastructure
— Maintaining high levels of subsidy
for public transport to effect a shift from private to public
transport.
— Introducing anti-congestion measures
in urban areas to keep public transport running.
— Investing in transport links to key
markets via improved rail links, roads, ports and airports.
26. Leading through ICT
— Putting the NE at the leading edge
of ICT development, aiming at the creation of many ICT-related
business start-ups and supporting the commercialisation of existing
regional R&D strengths in applications such as graphics, animation
and virtual reality.
— Addressing the digital divide between
"information rich" and "information poor"
by supporting community IT access projects.
27. Linking better with Europe
— Working with the other outer regions
of the EU to free ourselves from the centralising impact of the
London, Paris, Frankfurt triangle.
— Supporting the introduction of the
Euro as a key objective at the appropriate time to sustain jobs
in the NE.
28. Promoting social inclusion
— Exerting influence on other agencies
and authorities not directly under the control of the Regional
Assembly to deliver regional needs based on regional information.
— Developing a strong, legitimate voice
to negotiate with the Home Office and with the Strategic Health
Authority and make them less responsive to Whitehall's wishes
and more responsive to the needs of the region.
— Preventing the marginalisation of
any social groups.
29. Regenerating communities
— Building bottom-up regeneration and
neighbourhood management/capacity building.
— Changing national policy to support
physical regeneration through public sector jobs dispersed from
the south into existing communities across the region.
30. Additional powers
Although we believe the Regional Assembly has
insufficient powers and responsibilities, it will be important
for it to demonstrate a capacity to do more on behalf of central
Government and the region. Liberal Democrats will work actively
to increase the powers delegated to the Assembly.
Quangos
31. Liberal Democrats will bring democratic
accountability and co-ordinated decision-making to the present
vast array of Quangos and other unelected regional bodies which
comprise an existing expensive and inefficient tier of regional
government.
32. A Quango (Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental
Organisation) is an unelected body which carries out a government
or public function. In general, Quango directors and/or management
board members are appointed by government ministers. Quangos are
wholly funded from taxation and often disburse public funds and
grants.
33. No-one knows how many Quangos there
are. Government ministers quote 60-75 North East Quangos—we
believe there are actually well over 100 in the region.
34. Each Quango is concerned only with its
own particular aspect of regional policy. The best-known example
is One North East, the regional development agency. While collectively
the Quangos command a huge proportion of public spending in the
region, of the order of £10 billion a year, each follows
its own policy independently of the others. This system of regional
government is not only undemocratic; it is hugely inefficient
and wasteful.
35. Unknown to the public and largely ignored
by the press, members of Quango boards are responsible only to
government ministers. While there are around 1,250 democratically-elected
local councillors in the region, there are over 1,600 unelected
Quango board members, many of who are paid substantial salaries.
36. We want to bring all regional Quangos
under the direct control of the democratically elected Regional
Assembly; in the first instance, those Quangos relevant to the
initial powers of the Assembly. We would ensure that such Quangos
in future work together to implement the Assembly's democratically
agreed regional policy, cutting out wasteful duplication.
37. We will examine each Quango under the
Assembly's control and would streamline, amalgamate or abolish
them as appropriate. This will also reduce wasteful expenditure.
We will democratise the appointment of remaining Quango boards.
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