Supplementary memorandum by the British
Chambers of Commerce (BCC) (RG 78(a))
Following our oral evidence given to the Committee
on Monday 27 April the Committee were keen to know further details
of the referendum conducted in 2004 by the North East Chamber
of Commerce prior to the referendum on an elected assembly for
the North East. We did not have the precise figures to hand but
I can now confirm that a total of 884 businesses responded to
the survey, with 73.8% opposed to the plans for an elected assembly
for the North East. The poll took place a month before the official
referendum and very closely mirrored the final result, when 78%
of people voted against the plans.
To reiterate the central point of our evidence,
both oral and written, we believe that there needs to be a coherent
rethink of which functions national, regional and local government
need to have responsibility for. Rather than, for example, adding
more and more functions and funding streams to RDAs' and Local
Authorities' remits, we need to start by identifying the core
functions and whether these should be a national, regional or
local responsibility. There need to be far clearer responsibilities
and purpose for each level, with unnecessary layering and duplication
striped out. Each level of governance needs to be far more accountable
than at present and provide real value for money. Furthermore,
in this rethink, there should not be a presumption that the public
sector is always best placed to have responsibility for, for example,
economic development or enterprise.
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