Regional assembly (England)

Their role later included scrutinising their regional development agency; integrating policy development and enhancing partnership working at the regional level across the social, economic and environmental policy agenda; as well as carrying out a wide range of advocacy and consultancy roles with UK government bodies and the European Union; but their public profile was low.

[2] While the London Assembly worked with ERN on some issues it was not a full member of the Network.

They would be able to look across local boundary constraints and ensure planning decisions are made with region-wide interests taken into account.

This overwhelmingly negative vote was seen as an insurmountable obstacle to elected regional assemblies elsewhere in England outside London.

On 8 November, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott told the House of Commons he would not move orders for the other two regions within the effective time limit of June 2005 permitted by the Act.

[5] The Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott presented a Draft Regional Assemblies Bill to Parliament in July 2004.

The two bodies would jointly produce new single regional strategies, with Ministers exercising an oversight function.

[14][15] The campaign had the support of all five Cornish Liberal Democrats MPs, Mebyon Kernow and others; they stated that the SW regional assembly was undemocratic and unaccountable, and believed Cornwall should be able to take decisions about local services in its own directly elected and accountable assembly.

As well as the five Merseyside boroughs, the proposals also included the Cheshire authorities of Halton and Ellesmere Port / Neston.

The main argument was that the North West was too large and did not represent a cultural or economic area; something Merseyside did better.

[citation needed] However, opinion is divided on the question of whether to impose new city regional structures from above or to allow existing elected bodies to come together on a more informal voluntary basis.