ASSEMBLY PLENARY, READING

The Assembly held the first plenary meeting of 2002 on 13 February at Reading Town Hall. At the meeting, it was the Assembly's role as the Regional Planning Body for the South East, which took centre stage. This Bulletin summarises the day's proceedings.

PLANNING GREEN PAPER

The Assembly Plenary meeting of 13 February agreed the Regional Assembly's formal response to the consultation document, "Planning Green Paper: Delivering Fundamental Change".

Positive features of the Green Paper
The Assembly welcomed a number of key aspects of the Green Paper proposals, including:

• The refocusing of national planning guidance;
• The proposed introduction of Regional Spatial Strategies with statutory status;
• In principle, the new Planning Obligations system, based on transparent tariffs;
• A new system of Action Plans for local concentrations of development;
• The proposals to improve the Compulsory Purchase System.

Assembly concerns about the Green Paper
The Assembly did, however, register its concern about a number of key issues, of significance to the South East, where were not addressed sufficiently in the Green Paper. These included:

• The need to establish a development planning process in between the Regional Strategies and Action Plans, which will deliver sufficient sub-regional guidance.
• The complexity of the South East region, which means the new arrangements need to be flexibly adapted to varying circumstances across the region. One size does not fit all.
• The need to formally recognise the key partnership role of county councils in the South East, as principal service providers and an important source of data and other skills.

Suggested modifications to Green Paper
The Assembly also suggested that there are a number of aspects of the Green Paper, which need further consideration or modification:

• The status and role of sub-regional plans needs to be clarified and more clearly defined;
• The proposed Local Development Frameworks should be clearly defined and linked appropriately to community strategies.
• The proposals for Business Planning Zones were seen as unjustified and unnecessary;
• The proposals for new parliamentary procedures to resolve major planning applications- the Assembly felt that there are were a serious erosion of local democratic rights and should only apply to a small number of major developments.

The Assembly's response will now be sent to the Secretary of State. The Assembly feels that the next step should be the publication of a White Paper, which addresses the concerns and suggestions from the Assembly and others who have submitted responses,

REGIONAL TRANSPORT STRATEGY

The afternoon session at the Assembly Plenary on 13 February was devoted to discussing and agreeing the principles and themes of the Regional Transport Strategy.

Mike Gwilliam, Director of Planning and Transport, gave a brief overview of the RTS - its key principles, and primary objectives, and how and where investment should be focused. This was followed by table discussions, which identified a number of key points for emphasis in the draft strategy. These include:

• The need to develop a strong case for higher levels of transport investment in the South East, reflecting the region's critical gateway role for the UK;
• Concerns about the importance of not looking at the South East in an insular way.
• Lack of clarity on how outcomes from the multi-modal studies will be incorporated into the Regional Transport Strategy.

Assembly officers will take all concerns and questions raised during the table discussions into consideration when they are writing the first draft of the strategy.

The first draft of the Regional Transport Strategy will be published in summer 2002. This will be followed by a period of consultation with Assembly members, the region's local authorities and other relevant partner organisations. The strategy's second draft will be published in late 2002 and there will be an Examination In Public (EIP) during 2003.

SOUTH EAST RURAL FORUM

The Executive Committee on 18 January agreed that the Assembly should nominate three Local Authority representatives, to the new South East Rural Forum (SERF), that is being set up by the Government Office.

At the Assembly Plenary meeting of 13 February, the three nominations were selected. They are as follows:

• Cllr Bill Lidgate (Bucks CC)
• Cllr Ken Gregory (Thanet DC)
• Cllr Robin Pierce (South Oxfordshire DC)

SELECT COMMITTEE

The first Select Committee to be convened under the Assembly's accountability arrangements with SEEDA will meet on 22 March and 18 April. The focus for this first Select Committee will be SEEDA's impact (past and potential) in areas of economic success. The committee will be chaired by Economic Partner Vice-Chair, Mike Geddes.

At the Assembly Plenary meeting of 13 February, the members of the Select Committee were nominated. They are as follows:

• Con Cllr Derek Whittaker (Arun DC)
• Con Cllr Trevor Egleton (South Bucks DC)
• Con Cllr David Harmer (Waverley DC)
• Lib Dem Cllr Rosie Sharpley (Woking BC)
• Lib Dem Cllr Alan Spratling (Wokingham DC)
• Labour Cllr Rob Donnelly (Basingstoke & Dean BC)
• Other Cllr Harry Rees (Isle of Wight Council)
• SEP No nomination to date

We expect to run three or four select committees each year, examining various aspects of SEEDA's work. Suggestions for future themes include: culture and regeneration, education and skills, the rural economy, sustainable development, and SEEDA's impact in the region's priority areas for regeneration.

IN BRIEF…

Healthy Region Forum

The next meeting of the Healthy Region Forum will take place on Wednesday, 27 February at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors at Cadogan Gate, London.

Topics to be discussed at the Forum include:

• Update on changes to the NHS;
• Regional Public Health Group: progress and plans;
• Using flexibilities within the Health Act to develop new ways of delivering services;
• Recruitment and retention in health services.

Please contact the Secretariat if you would like to attend the Forum.

GOSE Update

It was announced at the Assembly Plenary of 13 February that David Saunders would be resigning his position as GOSE Regional Director as of Friday, 15 February and taking up a new position at DTI HQ the following Monday (18 February).

At the DTI, David will be taking charge of streamlining the many and diverse programmes of Government assistance to business.

Until a new Regional Director is appointed, Charlotte Dixon will be temporarily in charge of GOSE. It is expected that the Regional Director job will be advertised in due course externally as well as internally within the civil service.

Area Cost Adjustment

As the Government embarks on an overhaul of local government finance, the Assembly has been working with our local authorities to ensure that Government grant to South East councils continues to recognise the exceptional costs of service provision in the region. A key event to make the region's case to Ministers is planned for Thursday 21 March in central London. Please contact the secretariat for details.

Regional Economic Strategy (RES) Review

SEEDA's series of consultation events on the RES review are well underway at the time of writing. The first two events - in Hampshire and Kent - were well attended and lively, focusing on rural issues and regeneration respectively. The full programme of events was listed in the last Bulletin, and can be found on SEEDA's website.

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Last updated: 21 August 2007