The role of Regional Minister was introduced in June 2007 through the Green Paper on the Governance of Britain. This defined the role for Regional Ministers as:
- Representing regional interests in the formulation of central Government policy relevant to economic growth and sustainable development in areas that have not been devolved to the Regional Development Agency’s (RDA)
- Facilitating a joined-up approach across Government departments and agencies to enable the effective delivery of the single regional strategy
- Championing the region at high level events and with regard to high profile projects
- Advising the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on the approval of regional strategies and appointment of RDA Chairs and Boards
- Representing the Government with regard to central Government policy at regional select committee hearings and at parliamentary debates focused specifically on the region.
Regional Accountability
The Government believes that Regional Ministers should be accountable to Parliament. Both they and the Government's regional policy should be subject to formal and consistent parliamentary scrutiny.
It is for Parliament to decide how to take forward regional accountability. The Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons has been considering this issue and produced their report on 10 July 2008. The Government response was published on 21 July 2008. The Parliamentary debate and vote on the proposed new arrangements is not expected until October.
