SHAW SHOULD BE SOUTH EAST'S 'WHITE KNIGHT'

The South East England Regional Assembly has called on Regional Minister Jonathan Shaw to become its 'White Knight' in Government, helping to argue for more public investment in the South East.

Jonathan Shaw addressed the Assembly's meeting in Winchester this week, praising the region's effective partnership working between councils and communities, and offering to help find solutions to problems facing the South East.

Assembly Chairman Cllr Keith Mitchell CBE said:

"We welcome his offer. We will look on him as our White Knight acting as our ambassador within Government. Our key aim is to secure a fair share of public spending for the South East to fund essential services that will support planned growth - we hope Jonathan will help us achieve that."

He added:

"Each year the South East contributes billions to the Exchequer for the whole country's benefit. In return we deserve sufficient investment for vital infrastructure including housing, transport and hospitals to support sustainable growth. Without more Government support the region’s economic performance and quality of life are both at risk."

Contacts

Lesley van Dijk, Assembly PR Executive - 01483 5552223

Heather Bolton, Assembly Communications Director - 01483 555220

Notes to editors:

The South East England Regional Assembly

1. The Assembly is a partnership of councils and communities in the South East region. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the region, which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire and Surrey.
2. The Assembly is made up of 112 members including elected councillors nominated by the region's local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations) as well as the New Forest National Park Authority.
3. The Assembly has six roles:
1. Regional Planning
   preparing and delivering the South East Plan
2. Regional Housing
   the Regional Housing Board decides housing investment priorities
3. Regional Transport
   the Regional Transport Board decides transport investment priorities
4. Advocacy
   pressing the South East's interests in London and Brussels
5. Accountability
   scrutinising SEEDA's plans and impact
6. Alignment
   co-ordinating regional policies and decisions.

Our vision is for a distinctive, outward-looking, accessible region of prosperous, sustainable communities, with a high quality of life and environment.

SOUTH EAST PHOTO LIBRARY

The South East England Regional Assembly's photo library MediaStore, gives everyone the chance to access images of issues affecting the region. MediaStore draws on the knowledge of the Assembly to provide you with images from all over the South East.

• regularly updated with photos covering topics from housing to transport to flooding
• easy to access and download
• fully searchable
• a wide variety of high resolution images
• there's no charge for this service, just credit the Assembly when an image is used.

To view images from across the region visit: www.southeast-ra-mediastore.co.uk

Last updated: 19 November 2007