Strategy will need space to breathe

FOLLOWING the Government’s Putting People First reform package, three regional assembly areas are expected to be announced shortly. However, they risk being ineffective without the context of a new National Spatial Strategy (NSS) to guide regional development.

There is concern that the structure and make-up of the regional assemblies may have been decided in the absence of a national spatial plan or structure and without any sound, evidence-based assessment.

The new assemblies — which are to include one in the South; one in the West and North; and an Eastern/Midlands Regional Assembly — will take on the important roles of deciding on regional, spatial, and economic strategies for their regions; relevant functions in relation to EU funding programmes; oversight of local authority performance; and national policy implementation.