BBC NEWS | Business | Can regional assemblies bridge the divide?
Three English regions, the North-East, North-West, and Yorkshire and the Humber will be given a vote on whether they want their own elected assembly.
For deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, regional devolution is the culmination of a long-held political dream.
He wants to replace the unelected quangos currently in charge of regional development with modern, democratically accountable institutions that will give the regions a real voice for the first time.
But for the scheme's many critics, the new assemblies will amount to little more than expensive talking shops with no real power.
I'm highlighting this article from the Beeb primarily because it is a subject very dear to my heart. So much so because I wrote my degree dissertation on Devolution to the regions of England.
Within the UK, and England in particular are a number of unelected bodies which preside over a wide variety of governmental functions. These can be relatively trivial up to the ecomomically powerful e.g. Regional Development bodies. The idea behind this new intiaitive is to consolidate the powers of these various bodies in an elected assembly at a regional level. A good thing you might think, seeing as the current situation allows for limited if any, accountability for actions and only small amounts of redress.
However one of the big criticisms of this type of devolution of power is that essentially they will be impotent. The key to the success of any Government, wheher nationally or locally is the abiltity to truely influence its surroundings and this is usually accomplished through tax raising powers and the ability to then spend the budget raised. These bodies won't have that and hence the accusation of being a talking shop and an administrative overhead.
So are they desirable and will they get voted in?
Personally I think they are desirable. Any factor which can increase democracy and perhaps more importantly participation is worth the cost, assuming they do have the power to make a difference. Their power may be limited in the first instance but it does create a precedent and allow for further developments towards regional democracy.
Will they come about? I think the choice of areas like Yorkshire and Humberside will work. There is a distinctive regional identity lacking in such areas as the South East, and a desire to have a say in how things work in their area. It also cuts some of the apron strings from London which they will always view as a good thing. Economic development in Scotland, Ibelieve has been booming since devolution and proponents would hope that a similar effect can happen within these regional areas. I think it can given the right leadership, but then that's the lottery of a democracy.
Posted by Paul Goodison at September 16, 2003 11:47 AM | TrackBack