thirteen - Elected regional government: the issues

Summary

So, then, let's strike a northern light

To blind those armies of the night

Who always place a southern spin

Around the state we’re living in.

(A Northern Assembly, Sean O’Brien, 2001)

This book has so far outlined the present state of play on the governance of the English regions. This chapter examines the processes required – and decisions to be made – in order to establish directly elected assemblies in any or all of the regions.

During the 2001 General Election campaign, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a commitment to publish a White Paper on the subject, holding out the prospect of a timetable similar to that for devolution in Scotland and Wales. This complemented the statement in the Labour Party Manifesto, repeating that of 1997, which constituted a clear commitment:

In 1997 we said that provision should be made for directly elected regional government to go ahead in regions where people decided in a referendum to support it and where predominantly unitary local government is established. This remains our commitment. (Labour Party, 2001, p 35)

In the months prior to publication, the government has remained very tight-lipped about the contents of the Regional Government White Paper. The minister responsible, Nick Raynsford, won praise for his extensive efforts of consultation over the paper, but very little public support was forthcoming from colleagues. The issue was relegated well behind the totem of second-term service delivery and finally appeared in May 2002.

The more complex departmental responsibilities for regional government put in place after the 2001 General Election may not in themselves advance the cause. The public commitment to a White Paper and (implicitly) to early legislation, with the continuing lead responsibility of the Deputy Prime Minister (the only senior member of the government with a known personal commitment to elected regional government) mark a long step forward from the ambiguous record of the 1997 government.

Even so, giving effect to the Manifesto Commitment was not going to be plain sailing.