The Regional Development Agencies Act gave the Assembly the role of scrutinising SEEDA to make sure that economic development and regeneration work reflects the South East region's priorities.

The Regional Assembly holds SEEDA to account in a number of ways:

• Members and officers examine SEEDA's Regional Economic Strategy, corporate plan and business plan
• The Regional Assembly Executive Committee reviews SEEDA's quarterly performance reports against its business plan
• The Regional Assembly holds regular 'select committee' hearings that examine the success of SEEDA initiatives. Each select committee makes recommendations on how SEEDA's work can be improved and the Regional Assembly's Executive Committee monitors progress to ensure that these recommendations are followed through
• SEEDA's Chief Executive and Board Committee regularly report to the Regional Assembly Executive Committee
• There is an annual progress and performance report to the full Regional Assembly meeting by SEEDA's Chairman.