Regional Government Is Half-Baked

Anne Lee said "The SEERA meeting, at the H G Wells Centre in Woking on 29th November, brought home to us how unaccountable this Quango is. It is a half-baked idea of devolution. Votes are cast by vested interests (eg the CBI and the National Housing Federation) and various county councillors. It is chaired by a Conservative County Councillor.

"This year (04/05) the Assembly plans to spend nearly £4 million of our money. Yet in this week's debate about what level of housing should be built in the South East, in the end the Assembly could only make recommendations. The debate might have been meaningful if there were any funding for affordable housing likely to be made available - but that was not so.

"If they are to work effectively regional assemblies must get rid of vested interests. They must made democratically accountable and there must not be too many layers of government. If Regional Assemblies are to have any future we must also cut back the number of MPs at Westminster."