MPs missing out on chance to have greater say on local issues
When the Prime Minister set out his vision for regional representation in 2007, he proposed two major innovations.
The first was the creation of ministers to give regions such as the West Midlands a voice in government.
The second was the formation of regional select committees to hold those ministers to account, and to allow local MPs to scrutinise the work of public services in the area they represent.
It didn’t take long for the ministers to be appointed. But we are still waiting for the committees to be formed, and their future remains in doubt.
If Conservatives and Liberal Democrats boycott regional committees, they will lack the authority needed to do their job properly.
Tories complain that Gordon Brown is pursuing a regional agenda which they oppose, and undermining local authorities.
But this is unfair. In fact, regional select committees mark the death of regional government, as they effectively replace regional assemblies.
Instead of creating a new tier of civil servants and bureaucrats, Mr Brown is hoping to use the elected representatives we already have - our MPs - to hold ministers and public services to account.
Local MPs would have more influence, both in the region and in Westminster. Rather than undermining local councils, they would fill the vacuum which currently exists and allows bodies such as Advantage West Midlands to escape effective scrutiny from anyone.
Of course, if the Tories win the next election and follow through with their plan to radically reform or scrap regional bodies, these committees may no longer be necessary.
But they can always be abolished too, if that happens. It is premature to boycott them now.
As things stand, opposition parties are passing up a chance to give our MPs a louder voice in the decisions made by ministers and the bodies which control so many of our public services in the West Midlands.
