This report from the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons (HCP 282, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215521675), focuses on regional accountability. The Governance of Britain Green Paper (Cm. 7170, ISBN 9780101717021) put forward proposals for improved democractic accountability and scrutiny of the delivery of public services in the English regions. The Committee, in this report, has concluded that there is clear evidence of an accountability gap at regional level. Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), although accountable to ministers, still conduct many activities that are not subject to a regular, robust scrutiny, and the Committee believes more should be done to monitor the delivery of services. With this in mind, the Committee recommends the establishment of a system of regional select committees, with one select committee for each of the administrative regions in England, with the exception of London. Further, the Committee recommends that up to two regional grand committee meeting should take place in each session for each of the 8 regions. To avoid an adverse impact on House Members' other commitments, membership of regional committees should consist of 10 Members in total. This report therefore sets out a desirability of establishing new structures within the House of Commons to improve regional accountability and Parliamentary scrutiny.
The document contains written evidence submitted to the Committee in relation to its scrutiny of the Government's proposals for the creation of elected regional assemblies in England, as set out in the draft Bill (Cm 6285, ISBN 0101628528) published in July 2004. This draft Bill seeks to implement the policy proposals contained within the Government's White Paper (Cm 5511, ISBN 0101551126) published in May 2002, as part of its overall agenda of constitutional reform and devolution. Written evidence includes memoranda from the Electoral Commission, the Greater London Authority, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Association of Police Authorities; as well as from a number of regional bodies, local councils and local government bodies, charities and regional business organisations.
The South East Plan contains an annual target fro new homes that provides a benchmark which can be reviewed. Sub-regions will have their own targets that allow local circumstances to be taken into account, but the regional overview is valuable to ensure consistency and to enable review of the regional target as a whole. It is important that any review of housing targets in the South East takes into account the range of numbers put forward, their underlying reasons, and the consequences of not meeting any decided targets. The economic downturn has meant that fewer homes are being built and there are concerns that the lack of infrastructure provision alongside housing development is stopping schemes from making progress. The Committee recommends that the Government review the funding mechanisms currently available for this infrastructure. It feels it is important that the Homes and Communities Agency is given the resources it needs in future years. The Committee also acknowledges that while focusing development on brownfield land is important to stimulate regeneration there must be care that concentrating development in such areas does not have adverse effects such as using up urban land or valuable urban greenspace. The Committee also recommends that greater attention be paid to alternative models for providing housing land; that the region provides the right mix of homes and that the Government stick to its timetable for the Code for Sustainable Homes ensuring that all housing has a zero carbon rating by 2016.
The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 fundamentally changed the way in which reviews of parliamentary constituencies boundaries are conducted. The new rule requiring the electorate of all but four constituencies to be within 5% of the UK average number of electors for a constituency meant that the Boundary Commissions were unable to give adequate consideration to other factors. Although there is a case for the electorates of parliamentary constituencies to be more equal than is the case at present, the Boundary Commissions must be able to take a balanced approach to various considerations-including reflecting local ties and limiting disruption to existing constituencies. If no action is taken, the next boundary review will commence in early 2016. It is recommended that the rules be changed-including relaxing the 5% rule and reversing the reduction of the number of parliamentary constituencies to 600-ahead of the next boundary review. To achieve this, the next Government should make a statement no later than June 2015 on its policy on the rules for the distribution of parliamentary constituencies. This statement should respond to the recommendations set out in this report. The Government should in July 2015 publish a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny and introduce a Bill in the autumn of 2015 to receive Royal Assent by early 2016.
The European Commission white paper on sport, published on 11 July 2007, was referred to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee for an opinion by the European Scrutiny Committee. The white paper consists of three policy discussions, on the social value of sport, the economic value of sport, and the organisation of sport. Various action points emerge from the discussions, and with the white paper these form the Action Plan Pierre de Coubertin (included as an appendix to this report). There is a lack of competence for sport under existing EU treaties, though not under the Reform, or Lisbon, treaty. The report examines the content of the white paper and sport and EU law in detail. The Committee believes that sport has distinctive characteristics that need to be taken into account in the application of EU law. Much of the white paper is useful in exploring scope for using existing networks and programmes to support participation in sport. But the Committee does not believe there is any justification or necessity for the Commission to take a more active role in driving the development of policy on sport, and notes the alarm created by the lack of a clear statement on the autonomy of sports organisations. Governing bodies of sport should have the freedom to decide for themselves how their sport is run.
The railways in Britain are currently experiencing historically high levels of investment. Network Rail, the monopoly owner and operator of Britain's fixed rail infrastructure, is investing about £35 billion in the railway network between 2009 and 2014. In this inquiry the Transport Committee assess the value of further investment to enhance Britain's railway network and - within the context of likely public spending reductions following the recession - to identify essential rail investment priorities for the future. Investment in rail enhancements can positively benefit the economy through reducing journey times, providing access to employment, contributing to the regeneration of local areas and, in the short-term, providing much-needed construction jobs. Failure to invest now to enhance the network, and to alleviate capacity constraints, will only damage the prosperity of the railways in the long term. The Committee believes the Government should continue to focus on enhancing the network, promoting integration of transport modes and reacting positively to proposals to develop new rail lines, or reopening old ones, serving communities with little or no access to the rail network. The report sets out which needs and schemes the Committee thinks should be considered high priorities in the medium to long-term.
The document contains written evidence submitted to the Committee in relation to its scrutiny of the Government's proposals for the creation of elected regional assemblies in England, as set out in the draft Bill (Cm 6285, ISBN 0101628528) published in July 2004. This draft Bill seeks to implement the policy proposals contained within the Government's White Paper (Cm 5511, ISBN 0101551126) published in May 2002, as part of its overall agenda of constitutional reform and devolution. Written evidence includes memoranda from the Electoral Commission, the Greater London Authority, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Association of Police Authorities; as well as from a number of regional bodies, local councils and local government bodies, charities and regional business organisations.
This report focuses on the work of Yorkshire Forward, its use of resources (forecast to be around £360 million in 2009-10) and how the regional strategies it has developed benefit the region's population of over 5 million, especially in the current economic climate. Yorkshire Forward has led the development of three Regional Economic Strategies (RESs). Although developed by Yorkshire Forward it is felt that it is important that the RES is owned by the region and Yorkshire Forward is commended for its consultative and collaborative approach. It is important that full account is taken of the region's diversity and it will need to be ensured that this is reflected in the new Integrated Regional Strategy, but this should not mean that sub-regional concerns are put ahead of a balanced approach to the interests of the region as a whole and should not detract from Yorkshire Forward's original core economic focus. The Committee is also concerned about the impact of budget cuts and a reduction in funding on the work of Yorkshire Forward and they recommend that Yorkshire Forward's budget not be decreased further
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