1. Graham Pearce (Aston University) & Sarah Ayres (Bristol University)
Taking stock & contemplating regional governance in England after the General Election
Graham Pearce (Aston University) & Sarah Ayres (Bristol University)

2. Introduction
The aim of the paper is to explore the institutional & policy trajectory of the English regions
Key questions include:
How has English regionalism evolved over the past decade?
How are New Labour’s most recent regional reforms being applied in the English regions?
What are the Conservative party’s proposals for reforming the sub-national tier?
How might English regionalism evolve post the 2010 General Election?

3. Labour’s Legacy Administrative decentralisation post 1997
Failed North East referendum (2004) - no plan B & opened door to advocates of city-regions
Governance of Britain - Regional Ministers & Regional Select Committees (2007)
Review of Sub-national Economic Development & Regeneration (2007)
Prosperous Places DCLG/DBERR consultation (2008)
Local Democracy, Economic Development & Construction Act (2009)
LA Leader Boards & RDAs replace Assemblies
Green light for Multi-Area Agreements (MAAs) & City regions

4. Implementing the SNR
Varied response & capabilities of Local Government
Threatened role of Social, Economic & Environmental Partners (SEEPs)
Lack of clarity about the focus, traction & level of precision of the Single Regional Strategy (SRS)
Concerns over staff arrangements
Restricted remit of Regional Ministers & potential overlap
Uncertainty over the longevity of reforms
Select/Grand Committees early days but hamstrung

5. The Conservative Critique
Functional administrative boundaries do not ‘chime’ with community identities
Current regional tier is wasteful & unaccountable
No progress towards reducing regional disparities
With an emphasis on ‘new localism’ the party intends to:
Abolish regional planning & housing powers & transfer to districts
Strip RDAs of their non-economic powers
Give local authorities the power to establish local enterprise partnerships to take over RDA functions
Tentative plans to abolish (some?) RDAs
Differences of opinion amongst Conservative interests between regions & nationally/locally

6. Conclusions
The governance of England in the post-devolution context is unstable
The SNR was intended to deal with the ‘unfinished business’ of English regionalism - significant barriers remain
The implementation of SNR proposals lacks vision & coherence
The Conservative alternative would potentially relegate regions to the margins of political debate & empower local authorities
Both parties are apparently committed to voluntary sub-regional working but the lesson is that this rarely works
Whichever party wins the General Election it will inherit a fragmented & complex system of sub-national government
In the absence of a strategic master plan in Whitehall continued institutional repositioning looks the most likely outcome