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Row over £340,000 assembly overhaul 'farce'
EXCLUSIVE: Moves to cut out a layer of regional government were branded a fudge yesterday after it emerged that the cost would be £340,000 – while just two jobs will go.
Background: The short life and changing times of a people's parliament that never was
The Yorkshire and Humber Assembly will be wound up today, but will be replaced by a beefed-up quango based in the same Wakefield offices, using many of the same staff and performing a very similar role.
The new arrangements are a far cry from what was proposed in July 2007 by the Government, when it announced plans to streamline bureaucracy by abolishing the assembly and splitting its responsibilities between regional development agency Yorkshire Forward and local councils.
Instead the assembly's responsibilities for strategic planning will be shared by both Yorkshire Forward and an enlarged association for local councils, Local Government Yorkshire & Humber (LGYH).
Senior civil servants, speaking to the Yorkshire Post on the condition of anonymity, criticised the Government's "meddling" and described the resulting arrangements as "a typical Whitehall fudge".
One said: "It was a classic case of two ministries fighting each other. The Department for Business wanted more power for the regional development agencies but after protests from local government the Department for Communities got spooked and demanded more say for councillors.
"The result was an abrupt reversal of policy and what I would describe as a fudge."
Another insider said there was "a certain amount of frustration" that the Government's review had left the bureaucracy of regional government "pretty much in tact" and that Ministers had "gone strangely quiet" on their original plans to devolve power.
Last night Taxpayers Alliance campaign director Mark Wallace said: "It is outrageous that taxpayers are being billed so much just for an empty PR stunt.
"People thought this would see the end of an unpopular and undemocratic regional assembly so it's disappointing the Government has chosen to simply transfer its powers to another quango."
The total cost of the changes is 340,000, according to the assembly, including pay-offs for the two members of staff leaving and other transitional costs. In return, the budget under the new arrangements will be 10 per cent lower than in the current financial year.
Defending the new arrangements, the director of strategy at Yorkshire Forward, Simon Foy, said: "The whole idea of this review was to make sure the regional development agencies and the local authorities worked together on an integrated strategy for developing the region.
"Previously Yorkshire Forward and the assembly have produced separate strategies – from a distance it may have looked like we were working as one, but we were quite separate."
Mr Foy, who was in charge of organising the new arrangements, added: "While it is important we do all we can to help the region through these difficult economic times we mustn't lose sight of the medium to long term and these new arrangements will make sure we come out of the recession pulling in the right direction."
LGYH chief executive Carole Hassan added: "We are here to represent and engage Yorkshire's councils in the new arrangements. We'll be making sure any new strategies are shaped and driven by local democracy."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
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