Memorandum by the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister (DRA 73)
QUESTIONS TO
ODPM
1. Further to your letter of 30 July I attach
the answers to the specific questions you have raised on the draft
Regional Assemblies Bill.
EMPLOYEES
Question
2. "Please will you provide some detail
of the basis for the estimated 200 staff referred to in paragraph
92 of the Policy Statement. How will these staff transfer from
the Government Office (or other organisations) to the Regional
Assembly?"
Answer
3. The estimate of 200 staff was first published
in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice: Revitalising
the English Regions. It is the best estimate we can produce,
in advance of an assembly being created, of the likely staff required.
In determining this figure regard was had to the number of staff
employed by the Greater London Authority, taking into account
the differing range of responsibilities. It is not intended to
be a maximum or minimum figure, each assembly will need to determine
its own requirements once established.
4. Some staff, between 60 and 100 will be
from other bodies—such as the Government Office for the
region, the Housing Corporation and possibly the regional chamber—which
currently carry out work that will transfer to an elected assembly.
In addition some staff will be needed to service the assembly—for
example, to provide secretarial and administrative support to
assembly members and committees—and to deal with corporate
functions such as finance, communications, legal and other support
services. Each assembly will have a chief executive, and senior
officers including a chief finance officer and a monitoring officer.
5. Staff transfers will be on the same basis
as if the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
regulations (TUPE) applied and in accordance with the Cabinet
Office statement of practice on Staff Transfers in the Public
Sector. Current thinking is that powers will be included in the
Bill to enable orders or schemes to be made about the transfer
of property, rights and liabilities. The transfer powers included
in the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 and the Great London
Authority Act 1999 provide examples of the type of provision we
could expect to include. These powers will provide a simple format
to effect transfers that can be rolled out as demand for ERAs
manifests itself across the regions.
6. Staff will transfer with their work to
an assembly as and when it assumes responsibility for the function.
Precisely when functions transfer will need to be decided in the
light of other developments. They might transfer immediately following
elections to an assembly, or might transfer at a stated period
afterwards so allowing the new assembly to settle its own internal
organisational arrangements. The necessary supporting resources
and records will also transfer so that there can be a seamless
change in responsibility from the existing provider to the new
assembly.
STATUS
Question
7. "How do arrangements and requirements
for members of the new Assemblies differ from those for members
of Local Authorities? Examples we have noted include clause 13
on declaration of acceptance of office, and clause 16 (2 (d))
which requires members to reside in the region."
Answer
8. We take this question to relate to the
status and electoral arrangements for members of assemblies. The
members of elected regional assemblies will in many respects have
a similar status to those of local authorities and where there
are differences, many of the provisions are similar to those in
the Greater London Authority Act 1999. For example, our expectation
is that members will need to devote considerable time to their
duties and assemblies will accordingly be required to pay them
a salary.
9. Dealing with the particular examples
referred to, clause 13 of the draft Regional Assemblies Bill differs
from the local government model in that no salary or pension may
be paid to a member until they have made the declaration of acceptance
of office. This reflects the fact that an assembly member will
receive a salary, whereas a local authority member does not. The
Secretary of State may make provision with respect to the making
and delivery of declarations of acceptance of office after the
first elections to an assembly (s13(5) and (6)) because a regional
assembly would be a new body, unlike a local authority, and so
at the first election, there would otherwise not be a proper officer
nor would there immediately be too many other members of the assembly
who could act in their capacity as such. On these aspects the
draft Regional Assemblies Bill is based on section 28 of the GLA
Act.
10. The effect of clause 16(2) is that elected
members are required to fulfil at least one of the criteria listed,
not all of them. Therefore, for example, members will not have
to reside in the region if their principal place of work is within
the region. This is similar to the requirements for members of
local authorities (see section 80 of the Local Government Act
1972), and those for members of the Greater London Authority (see
section 20 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999).
PURPOSES
Question
11. "The general purpose of the Regional
Assemblies seems to exclude health, safety and security, yet they
are included in paragraph 76 of the Policy Statement. Similarly,
arts and sports are referred to in paragraphs 61 and 62 of the
Policy Statement, but not in the general purpose. Paragraph 64
refers even more specifically to funding arrangements for the
Tyne and Wear Museums Service and the Museum of Science and Industry
in Manchester."
12. "Please will you let the Committee
have some clarification of the role of Regional Assemblies in
sports funding."
Answer
General purposes
13. The general purposes of an elected regional
assembly are set out in clause 43(1) of the draft Bill:
An assembly has the following general purposes
in relation to its region—
(a) the promotion of economic development;
(b) the promotion of social development;
(c) the improvement and protection of
the environment.
14. Subsection (2) of this clause provides
that an assembly would have the power to do anything that it thought
was likely to further one or more of its general purposes or was
likely to facilitate or was conducive or incidental to the exercise
of any of the functions conferred on it (whether or not conferred
on it by the Bill). An assembly's general power is defined by
clause 43(3) to include specific activities such as spending money
(including providing grants to any person), co-operating with
other bodies, making representations to others or providing advice
and anything else it thinks appropriate.
15. The intention is that the general purposes
in subsection (1) and the power in subsection (2), taken together
with the restrictions in clause 44(4), will provide a legal framework
for an assembly to work towards the achievement of sustainable
development in relation to its region.
16. "Economic development" and
"improvement and protection of the environment" are
not defined in the draft Bill because these concepts are in our
view relatively clear. However, the term "social development"
was considered to be less transparent and an illustrative list
is therefore set out in subsection (5) of this clause:
Social development includes—
(a) promoting the health, safety and security
of the community;
(b) reducing health inequalities that
are attributable to social conditions;
(c) enhancing the ability of all individuals
to participate in society;
(d) improving the availability of good
housing;
(e) improving the availability of appropriate
training for employment and other desirable skills;
(f) improving the availability of cultural
and recreational activities.
17. It is thus made clear on the face of
the draft Bill that promoting the health, safety and security
of the community is intended to be part of elected regional assemblies'
general purposes, as explained in paragraph 76 of the Policy Statement
that accompanied the draft Bill. The reference in subsection (5)(f)
to improving the availability of cultural and recreational activities
is included with the intention of providing that issues such as
arts and sports also fall within elected assemblies' purposes,
as described in paragraphs 61 and 62 of the Policy statement.
18. The definition in subsection (5) of
matters which the term "social development" covers is
not intended to imply that those matters could only have
"social" benefits. In many cases we would expect that
activities falling within elected assemblies' general purposes
would be likely to contribute to more than one of those purposes.
In this case, although the funding of non-national museums would
be expected to contribute to social development as described above,
such activities could also—particularly through promoting
tourism—contribute to economic development in the region.
Some cultural activities undertaken by assemblies may also contribute
to the protection or improvement of the environment in the region,
particularly since this includes the built environment and the
historic environment (heritage).
Sports funding
19. Sport England would consult the elected
regional assembly on their national strategies (including on the
implications of their spending plans for assemblies' regions).
This could provide opportunities for the assembly to inform Sport
England about relevant regional priorities and activities and
for the assembly in turn to receive information relevant to the
preparation of their own regional cultural strategic plan.
20. The regional sports board—whose
members would be appointed by the relevant elected regional assembly,
reflecting sports expertise and experience in the region—would
in turn consult the elected assembly on any strategies to promote
sport in the region which it develops. This should help to ensure
that such strategies fit with the regional cultural strategic
plan and the regional priorities identified in it as well as addressing
national priorities for sport in that region.
21. Existing sport funding streams would
continue to flow from DCMS and the Lottery through Sport England
and the regional sports boards to sport organisations. Elected
assemblies will have powers under clause 43 of the draft Bill
to incur expenditure and to give financial assistance. An elected
assembly could thus provide additional partnership funding for
sport, for instance, where the assembly take the view that the
sport activities are able to make a particular contribution to
the assembly's wider goal of social development.
22. As explained in paragraph 61 of the
Policy Statement, the Government will review the overall arrangements
for funding sport in those English regions which opt for elected
regional assemblies as they are set up and develop.
GOVERNMENT OFFICES
23. The Committee has also requested information
from Government Offices relating to their experience of working
with regional partners and their view on the proposed powers to
be given the assemblies.
24. On the first point, reproduce in paragraphs
26 to 56 below is a full response drafted by the Government Office
for the North East, whose Regional Director will be appearing
before the Committee. The response is written as an update on
the position outlined in Chapter 2 of the White Paper Your
Region, Your Choice: Revitalising the English Regions as since
its publication in 2002, it is this "chapter 2 agenda"
that Government Offices have been taking forward alongside their
regional partners. The experience for other Government Offices
has been similar, though naturally no two regions have progressed
in exactly the same way.
25. On the second point the White Paper,
Draft Bill and policy statements offer a definitive view on the
part of Government on the proposed powers for assemblies. We do
not have anything to add to those documents.
BETTER REGIONAL
STRATEGIES
26. Under the "Chapter 2" agenda
the Government Office, Regional Assembly and the Regional Development
Agency have developed effective working relationships to deliver
products which have a common ownership.
27. For example, the three organisations
delivered an intensive work programme, sharing out the workload
between them, to produce inputs to the Regional Economic Performance
PSA Target team and the Regional Emphasis Document for CSR 04.
28. Business leaders, community groups,
and local authorities were consulted; a group of senior regional
academics helped to build the evidence-base; the RDA commissioned
specialist work on market failures; and the Government Office
consulted about 140 organisations
29. The comprehensive reports were seen
as jointly owned and a clear product of partnership working, with
mutual respect for each organisation's agenda.
30. The Government Office has actively supported
the work of the Regional Assembly in preparing a new Regional
Spatial Strategy, linking it closely to the Regional Economic
Strategy, and in publishing an Integrated (sustainable development)
Regional Framework. The three organisations have now agreed on
a single vision for the region, which will be used in the Regional
Spatial Strategy, Integrated Regional Framework and Regional Economic
Strategy, and are expanding this into a set of common objectives
to guide the strategic planning of the North East.
31. The Government Office has played a part
in the development of a wide range of other regional strategies,
including Housing, Culture, Renewable Energy, Forestry and Sport,
and the Rural Action Plan and Sustainable Farming and Food Delivery
Plan.
32. We have also benefited from an ACAS
secondee to the office who has worked exclusively on the Chapter
Two agenda. An extensive mapping exercise of all government functions
in the region has been undertaken and a "policy group"
of relevant public/private sector agencies and academics established
to oversee and advise on development.
33. Having managed the launch of the Sustainable
Communities update at the beginning of 2004, the Government Office
has been involved at several levels in the work of the Northern
Way Task Force, liaising with government departments, commenting
on drafts and assisting with the technical background work. We
have also been active in the ongoing discussion about the relationship
between the Northern Way and other strategies, particularly the
Regional Spatial Strategy.
BETTER REGIONAL
SKILLS
34. Regional Skills Partnership (Skills
North East) established in April 2004. This includes "Skills
North East: Strategy" (the former FRESA Board) which represents
a wide range of interests across the region, and includes as members
representatives from ONE North East, Government Office North East
and the main stakeholders in the region. It also includes Skills
North East: Action—the existing Adult Skills Pilot Joint
Venture Board and includes senior representation from the main
delivery agencies in the region, including ONE North East, Government
Office North East, LLSCs, and Jobcentre Plus. The Adult Skills
Pilot aims to equip more adults with the skills that employers
need to boost productivity in the region. Skills North East also
includes a number of groups which focus on Higher Level Skills,
basic Skills and Schools.
35. The role of the Regional Skills Partnership
is to provide a framework which drives constructive, creative
joint working to link the assessment of economic strategy by region
and the sector; the skills, business support and labour market
services needed to raise productivity; support for the employees
to promote investment in skills.
36. Employer Training Pilot (eQ8) in place
in Tyne and Wear and provides employers with free access to Skills
for Life and Level 2 qualifications for their staff through Business
Link. EQ8 also offers wage compensation subsidies dependent on
the size of the establishment. It will be extended across the
North East region from September 2004.
37. As part of the regional developments
on skills, a new Regional Director of the LSC was appointed this
year.
BETTER REGIONAL
COMPETITIVENESS
38. The Regional Development Agency, One
North East, has established five Centres of Excellence in the
region, overseen by a regional Science and Industry Council. The
Council is promoting the North East internationally as the premier
location to conduct scientific research and enterprise, and members
use their knowledge and reputations to act as influential voices
for the region. The five Centres of Excellence cover Nanotechnology,
Photonics and Microsystems; Digital Technology and Media; Life
Sciences; New and Renewable Engery and Process Industries.
39. A partnership of regional agencies,
led by ONE North East, established the Regional Business Support
Network in April 2004. The Network is working to streamline the
whole range of business support throughout the region via four
sub-regional, business-led Area Brokerage Partnerships. The Business
Link Network is to be the main point of access to business support.
40. The North East Productivity Alliance
(NEPA) is an advisory body established in 2001 to take forward
the manufacturing strategy for the North East of England, in particular
through improving People and Skills (including High Level Engineering
Skills), New Technologies and Best Practice Dissemination. The
work of NEPA is internationally renowned and the organisation
is considered to be an excellent example of a private sector led
initiative, with wide public sector and academic involvement.
41. A number of technology parks are being
established across the region, including the region, including
NetPark in County Durham and Knowledge Campus in Gateshead. These
parks will bring together a wide range of internationally recognised
technical expertise to enhance business opportunities.
NORTH EAST
HOUSING BOARD
UNIT
42. The Chairs of the Board and its Executive
Group are, respectively, the Government Office North East Regional
Director and Director of the Built Environment. The Government
Office, in conjunction with other funding from One North East,
English Partnerships, Regional Assembly and the Housing Corporation
has established a new four-person team, the North East Housing
Board Unit, to support the Board in its activities. The North
East is the only region so far to have established a dedicated
full-time HB team. The Unit is currently co-located with the Government
Office but has been set up in such a way to make it easily co-locatable
with any of the key regional partner organisations, including
the Assembly, either in its current form or as an elected regional
assembly.
TRANSPORT
43. Activity largely through established
working groups involving regional partners and with individual
stakeholders:
— Developing the Regional Transport
Strategy as an embedded part of the Regional Spatial Strategy.
— Appraising the progress of the pilot
Regional Transport Boards.
— Advising on the transfer of transport
functions and implications for investment in infrastructure and
priorities.
— Ensuring that national bodies such
as the Highways Agency and the Strategic Rail Authority are fully
engaged with regional issues.
— Advising the business community on
the likely levels of expenditure on future investment in transport
infrastructure and the need for reasonableness, affordability
and value for money tests to be applied.
44. Working with Local Authorities on their
Local Transport Plans and the development of a Shared Delivery
Plan with Government.
45. Developing cross-boundary agenda through
concepts such as The Northern Way.
REGIONAL RESILIENCE
46. The Government Office has enhanced the
resilience of the region to the effects of major emergencies and
crises through the work of its Regional Resilience Team. The main
purpose of the team is to support a Regional Resilience Forum
(RRF), chaired by the Regional Director Jonathan Blackie, which
brings together chief officers and senior managers of all the
main sub-regional partner agencies with a responsibility for civil
protection. The RRF has overseen an important project designed
to map the current capability of the region to cope with disasters
and major emergencies, and is currently engaged on a similar programme
to assess the risk and impact of potential threats and hazards
to the North East. This will enable the creation of an agreed
work programme to develop our capacity to respond effectively
to the impact of wide area events.
REGIONAL WASTE
STRATEGY
47. A Regional Waste Strategy is being prepared
for the North East Region to:
— Guide the preparation of Regional
Spatial Strategy;
— Inform the preparation of Waste Development
Plan documents and the review of Municipal Waste Strategies;
— Help implement the Government's waste
policies at a regional and local level.
48. The Government Office has played a pivotal
role in initiating its preparation. It was responsible for securing
funding from the ODPM, which prompted the North East Assembly
to make a contribution towards its preparation. It was the first
Government Office to secure funding for the preparation of the
Strategy, which has since been followed by other regions. The
Government Office has been an active member of the Regional Technical
Advisory Body for Waste, which is responsible for managing the
preparation of the Strategy.
REGIONAL CULTURAL
SECTOR
49. Government Office for the North East
hosted an independently facilitated seminar on 20 April to discuss
the potential impact on cultural policy and structures of any
proposed Elected Regional Assemblies and the wider Chapter 2 Agenda.
50. In conjunction with the North East Assembly
and Culture North East, the Government Office commissioned an
independent consultant to prepare a scoping paper to inform discussion
on the possible positive and negative effects on cultural policy,
provision and delivery. The paper "Variations upon a Regional
Theme: The continuing challenge for cultural policy making and
delivery in the North East of England, as seen within a European
perspective" was issued to all delegates in advance of the
seminar.
51. The seminar, operating on the principle
that "the best interests of the people of the North East
are at the heart of the debate", was asked to consider two
key questions:
— What opportunities or problems would
an elected regional assembly present for culture and the region?
— Should there be a Yes vote, what
authority, resources and mechanisms would be required for an elected
regional assembly to effectively make a difference for culture
and the region?
52. The delegates were also invited to identify
other key messages they would like to feed into the regional hearings
process.
53. The seminar was positive and constructive,
reflecting a high level of critical engagement with the issues
and a strong desire to work with ODPM/DCMS to ensure that the
Bill and its implications would be beneficial to the sector, the
region and its people.
54. The outcomes of the seminar contributed
to a briefing note that was issued to the Deputy Prime Minister
prior to his regional hearing in Middlesbrough on 22 April. They
also framed the ongoing discussions with the North East Assembly
about the implications and opportunities for the sector presented
by regional governance.
REGIONAL PUBLIC
HEALTH
55. Although PHGs have only recently joined
Government Offices there is already evidence that the regional
level, through working with other regional and sub-regional agencies,
is the best place to facilitate the delivery of an integrated
approach to preventing disease and capitalising on the benefit
to good health, eg increased economic productivity.
56. Regions have social and historical features
the distinguish them in terms of population health experience.
For example the North East has the worst health overall because
of historical and social factors. Other regions have certain vulnerable
groups whose health experience is particularly poor because of
social or geographical differences (eg ethnic minorities). This
means that we are well placed to understand what are the issues
we must address. The Regional intelligence functions are important,
including the role of the Public Health Observatories. In this
Region there is integrated working between the PHO and the other
intelligence Bodies.
57. My letter of 17 August asked whether
the Committee has any further, specific questions which we could
usefully provide answers to. As yet I have not has a response
but am of course happy to provide anything else that coulld be
of help to the Committee.
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