The fate of the regions

Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in East Anglian Daily Times on Thu 16th Aug 2007

Gordon Brown's hyperactivity has suddenly turned the regional government of England upside down. He has appointed nine regional ministers who will be answerable, somehow or other, to regional select committees of MPs. Our minister in the East of England is Barbara Follett of Stevenage. The experiment with Regional Assemblies is over, phased out by 2010. The Regional Development Agencies will have new executive powers over both economic and physical planning. The upgraded RDAs will be answerable, somehow or other, not only to central government ministers but also to local authority leaders.

Meanwhile, the government is making spasmodic decisions to set up more unitary authorities, taking over the powers of district and county councils. While removing one tier of local government may look good in theory, some of the new unitaries seem to me to be too small to be likely to be effective. Ipswich is a case in point. And because this new round of local government reform looks hurried and incoherent, its overall effect, certainly for a considerable period, will be destabilising.

Liberal Democrat councillors have worked harder than most at making a success of the East of England Regional Assembly. Active engagement in the experiment has helped bind party members together across the region. It has encouraged the party's MPs, like Bob Russell of Colchester, to get engaged in regional planning and investment issues.

For me as the party's MEP, the growing regional dimension has been a blessing, bringing a real focus to my constituency work. The fact that MEPs, MPs and local councillors have been encouraged to work together at regional level has certainly raised the importance of the European Union dimension. Business, trade unions and NGOs have also been made more aware of European affairs as a result of their involvement in regional politics. It will be a great pity to lose these advantages as a result of piecemeal, hurried or ill-judged reforms forced through by a Labour government devoted to change for change's sake. Under the new arrangement, who outside central government will verify the efficiency of EU spending at a regional level, already agreed at some € 350 million over the next six years?

Mr Brown should not be discouraged from trying to decentralise powers from Whitehall to the English regions. Far from it. But he has to be businesslike about the reform of local government, weighing up the costs of the risks he takes. He must not put the East of England Development Agency beyond real democratic accountability. And he should foster the European dimension to life in our region.

Andrew Duff MEP (East of England) is leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament.