Regions of England
The
region (sometimes known as
Government Office Region) is currently the highest level of
local government in
England. There are nine regions, each with a government office and a few associated institutions, including a Regional Development Agency (RDA).
Greater London is a special case because it has an elected
mayor and is governed by the
London Assembly. As in several other
European countries, England's existing regions also double as
European Parliament constituencies for the election of
Members of the European Parliament.
The present policy of the
UK Government is to increase the power of government at the regional level, as part of the "
devolution" that led to elected assemblies in
Scotland,
Wales, and
Northern Ireland, and part of the concept of
regions in the EU. In accordance with this,
referendums will be held on whether to establish directly-elected
regional assemblies in the three northern regions of
North West England,
North East England and
Yorkshire and the Humber. The North East referendum will be held on
November 4 2004, the others have been put on hold pending the evaluation of all-postal balloting.
Devolution
The date of the referendums was announced in July 2004 by Nick Raynsford, after the Office of Deputy Prime Minister took soundings as to the level of support. The referendums will ask whether there should be an elected regional assembly in their region, and, as the assemblies are tied to local government reform, which pattern of unitary authorities they would like to see.
There is some strong opposition to the introduction of such assemblies, especially from the Conservative Party, but also from back-bench Labour Party MPs. Opponents of regionalism argue that instead of decentralising power from London, the new tier of government will simply take power away from county councils, and that the assemblies will be far weaker than those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has been claimed by some that these regions were selected because they are traditionally Labour-voting areas, and so would be likely to return authorities supportive of the current government.
The regions themselves have also been criticised as being largely based on those devised by the UK government in the Second World War for coordinating civil defence in England, and as too reliant on compass points for names.
Specific objections include:
Other suggestions have included a new
Marches region, consisting of
Gloucestershire,
Herefordshire,
Shropshire, and
Worcestershire; or that
Cornwall should form a region in itself.
The government is committed now to the borders of the three northern regions, but could order a review of the boundaries in the rest of the country.
Other systems of regions
Standard Statistical Regions
Prior to the establishment of the 'Government Office Regions', there were eight 'Standard Statistical Regions':
Redcliffe-Maud Provinces
The Redcliffe-Maud Report produced by the
Royal Commission on local government reform in
1969 recommended the creation of eight provinces. In approximate terms, these were to be
- North East - as per North East England\n# Yorkshire - as per Yorkshire and the Humber\n# North West - as per North West England, excluding southern Cheshire\n# West Midlands - as per West Midlands, including southern Cheshire\n# East Midlands - as per East Midlands, less Northamptonshire\n# South West - as per South West England\n# East Anglia - Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, northern Essex\n# South East - South East England and Greater London with Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, southern Essex
Britain in Bloom regions
\nBritain in Bloom divide England into 12 regions. They are broadly the same as the government office regions, except that
Cumbria is a region in itself, \nand
South East England into three -
Thames and Chilterns, Southern England and a rump South East England.
National Trust
\nThe National Trust has 10 regional offices in England. These are
See also
\nSubdivisions of England,
List of subnational entities,
UK topics
External links
\n*Boundary committee for England\n*
Boundary committee's map\n*
Regional Gateway
\n