Oral Answers to Questions

Gordon Marsden Excerpts

Tuesday 27th July 2010 Commons Chamber

The Deputy Prime Minister was asked—

[Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

1. What discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues involving elected representatives at regional and local level in decision making by Government Departments.

[The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Nick Clegg)]

The Government are committed to not just promising localism, but practising it. I and other Ministers have regular meetings with local authority colleagues, across a range of issues and at regular intervals, about the decisions that we are thinking of making. That is what greater transparency and devolution are all about.

[Mr Marsden]

The Deputy Prime Minister talks a good talk about devolution and localism, but that is about all he does. In fact, he and the Business Secretary acquiesced in the abolition of the regional development agencies. I have here a letter from him in which he acquiesced in the abolition of Government offices—one of the few areas in which local representatives can have an input.

Will the Deputy Prime Minister now give an undertaking to the House that he will intervene on his colleagues in the Government to make sure that the new regional growth fund decisions have a proper input from elected councils and local authorities, rather than—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We have got the gist of it. Questions and answers must be brief.