East of England Regional Assembly

Infobox public organisation

full_name= East of England Regional Assembly
territory= East of England
hq= Flempton
status= Regional assembly
founded= 1999
budget= £140 million [ [http://www.eera.gov.uk/News.asp?cat=724&id=SXDF7E-A77FD694 East Of England Regional Assembly ] ]
budget_year= 2006/07
homepage= http://www.eera.gov.uk/The East of England Regional Assembly is the regional assembly for the East of England region of the United Kingdom. It is based at Flempton, near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. The assembly was created as a "voluntary regional chamber" in 1998 by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. The first meeting was held in March 1999. In July 2003 the assembly was reconstituted to combine its existing functions with those of the regional arm of the Local Government Association and of the Regional Employers Organisation.

Organisation

Membership of the assembly is not by direct election. The assembly has 102 members made up as follows:

*54 members from local government (one from each of the local authorities)
*16 further members from local government, drawn to reflect political balance
*31 members nominated by stakeholders (must total 30%)
*1 member from the Broads Authority

Membership lasts one year and begins in July.

Leadership

*Chair of the Assembly, Leader of the Conservative Group - Cllr Sue Sida-Lockett (Suffolk County Council)
*Deputy Chair, Leader of the Community Stakeholder Group - Michael Allen (Stakeholder)
*Deputy Chair, Leader of the Labour Group - Cllr John Kent (Thurrock Borough Council)
*Deputy Chair, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group - Cllr Chris White (Hertfordshire County Council)

Role

The assembly acts as the representative voice of the region and works to promote its economic, social and environmental well-being. [http://www.eera.gov.uk/category.asp?cat=386] The key functions of the assembly are:

*Co-ordinate the public expenditure of local authorities
*Act as regional planning body
*Scrutinise the work of the East of England Regional Development Agency

Following criticism of the regional assemblies, it was proposed in July 2007 that they will be axed, losing their role by 2010. [cite news | date=2007-07-18 | url=http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=IPED18%20Jul%202007%2000%3A25%3A08%3A060| title=Axe falls on regional assembly| publisher=EADT24| accessdate=2006-07-18]

References

External links

* [http://www.eera.gov.uk/ East of England Regional Assembly]
* [http://www.eera.gov.uk/Documents/About%20EERA/Policy/Integrated%20Regional%20Strategy/2005-10-06%20EERA%2031%20Sust%20Futures(E)%20Final.pdf East of England - Integrated Regional Strategy] (PDF)