SCHOOL of PUBLIC POLICY
29/30 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9QU tel.: 020 7679 4977 fax: 020 7679 4978 email: constitution@ucl.ac.uk www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Director: Professor Robert Hazell
PRESS RELEASE
Embargoed: 16.00 hrs, Monday 16 June 2001
New report anticipates White Paper issues and suggests models for elected regional assemblies
In advance of an expected White Paper on elected regional assemblies in England, a new Constitution Unit report analyses many issues of rationale, structure, and functions of elected regional government which have not yet been substantially debated. The report presents, and discusses the implications of, three alternative models of elected assembly for the English regions: • • • Strategic assemblies, similar in scope to the Greater London Authority, with budgets of around £20m; Assemblies with executive and budgetary powers over a range of existing regional bodies, with budgets of £1.1-2.5bn Assemblies with a range of functions similar to those of the Welsh Assembly, with budgets of £6-14bn;
The report rejects the ‘strategic’ model which has appeared to be at the forefront of internal government debate on regional government. Co-author Paul McQuail said : “We are not persuaded that functions of that kind would be sufficient to attract the necessary support from the electorate, in a referendum or in subsequent elections, to be sustainable.” The proposals for the second model are seen as more convincing by the report, but go substantially further than the hints provided so far in Ministerial statements. The Welsh Assembly model goes further still, and the report does not believe that such a large step from the present position in England is realistic at the present time. Report co-author Mark Sandford said : “Clear vision and wholehearted commitment of government increase considerably the likelihood of a wellfunctioning system of regional government.”
Constitution Unit Council Lord Alexander of Weedon QC Graham Allen MP Lord Butler of Brockwell Viscount Cranborne Sir Brian Cubbon Professor Lord Currie Nigel Forman Baroness Gould Lord Holme of Cheltenham Lord Howe of AberavonQC CH Lord Hurd of Westwell Robert Jackson MP Lord Jenkins of Hillhead Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws QC Lord Lester QC Robert Maclennan MP Professor David Marquand Graham Mather MEP Alex Salmond MSP MP Professor Lord Smith Dafydd Wigley AM MP Lord Woolf Tony Wright MP
Notes for Editors: Unexplored Territory: Elected Regional Government in England, by Mark Sandford and Paul McQuail, is available from 16 July, price £10. For copies please phone the Constitution Unit on 020 7679 4977 or 4902, or e-mail constitution@ucl.ac.uk. The Constitution Unit is a specialist think tank working on the implementation of constitutional reform. It is independent and non-partisan, based in the School of Public Policy at University College London. Its reports are very carefully researched, and its work is frequently described as being authoritative and influential. This research was supported by a grant from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, with extra support from the Regional Assembly for Yorkshire and Humberside. Contact: Mark Sandford Paul McQuail 020 7679 4976 020 8693 2865
m.sandford@ucl.ac.uk paul.mcquail@ukgateway.net
Robert Hazell 020 7679 4971 (work) 020 7267 4881 (home)
Constitution Unit Director:
r.hazell@ucl.ac.uk
Constitution Unit Press contact Gareth Lewes 020 7679 4977
g.lewes@ucl.ac.uk
Constitution Unit Council Lord Alexander of Weedon QC Graham Allen MP Lord Butler of Brockwell Viscount Cranborne Sir Brian Cubbon Professor Lord Currie Nigel Forman Baroness Gould Lord Holme of Cheltenham Lord Howe of AberavonQC CH Lord Hurd of Westwell Robert Jackson MP Lord Jenkins of Hillhead Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws QC Lord Lester QC Robert Maclennan MP Professor David Marquand Graham Mather MEP Alex Salmond MSP MP Professor Lord Smith Dafydd Wigley AM MP Lord Woolf Tony Wright MP