Southampton MP Denham condemns axing of Government Office of the South East

Responding to today’s announcement by Eric Pickles, Communities Secretary, that he is scrapping all Government Offices, John Denham, Labour’s Shadow CLG Secretary and Southampton Itchen MP, said:

"The decision leaves English regions without any way of co-ordinating economic development, major infrastructure projects and the effective co-ordination of public services for local people. It is a decision being made under the guise of ‘localism’ but it will see a huge centralisation of power into Whitehall Ministries.

"In government we laid out proposals in our budget in March for making significant savings in regional government but retaining the crucial role of effective co-ordination of programmes which supports growth and jobs. What we now seen with the abolishing of the Government Offices along with RDAs is the abandonment of much of England to Whitehall power."

"Without the Government Offices and RDAs business will not have a first point of call across Whitehall and regional areas. And who is going to advise government about cross regional issues to shape investment decisions like the European funding programmes or even the Government’s new Regional Growth Fund. They will have no-one to consult with on different, possibly competing bids. This will lead to poorer decision making with those decisions being made at Eric Pickles’s desk."

The Shadow CLG team has been warning of the threat to the Government Offices and centralising plans of the Department. This is yet another attempt by Eric Pickles to smuggle out plans without due scrutiny.

Gordon Marsden MP, Shadow Local Government Minister said:

"Eric Pickles has consistently misled people about his intentions for the Government Offices. He’s already been caught out saying one thing in the House of Commons and another in letters to his colleagues in Government.

"He misled PCS representatives at a meeting yesterday and he has dodged coming to the House by putting out a written statement on the hoof. It is a deceitful and frankly Stalinist style that characterises his time as Secretary of State, which does enormous damage to his Department’s credibility as a so called promoter of localism."

Ends

Notes for Editors:

· John Denham warned last that Eric Pickles was planning the biggest centralisation in a decade. The Government’s announcement today confirms that this centralisation will now take place.

· Government Offices are a way for areas and English regions to make their case across government departments and bodies in a co-ordinated way, bringing forward issues and in turn delivering programmes across many areas. It is difficult to see how this co-ordination will now happen. The Conservative former Leader of Trafford Council warned at the Local Government Association on 13 July about the lack of co-ordination and voice for areas if this went ahead asking what will happen to major regeneration and transport programmes like the Atlantic Gateway which cut across a number of authorities?; and saying: ‘where will the voice to Government be - there will be a little bit of a void.’

· Lack of scrutiny and proper process: On 6 July Eric Pickles wrote to Nick Clegg to say that he had met with other Secretaries of State and that they had agreed to close the Government Offices. The letter to Nick Clegg states "We agreed that we would withdraw our funding and staff from the [Government Office] Network forthwith". On 15 July at CLG Oral Question when asked to confirm this he said: "We are currently discussing this with interested parties including the trade unions", in direct contradiction to the letter he had previously sent. On 20 July 20Gordon Marsden MP, Shadow Local Government Minister, raised a point of order asking for clarification. Eric Pickles shortly met with the PCS last night where he described their requests as reasonable but asked for a little time to reflect. He said he was increasingly persuaded it would be reasonable to handle the processes over a longer period linked to the spending review. Today he has announced the scrapping of the Government Offices and with no indication of consultation with local authorities or third sector organisations about the abolition.

· The remaining government offices employ 1,700 staff in ten offices; Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham, Cambridge, Guildford, Bristol and Plymouth. The Government haven’t given an indication of cost savings that would be achieved by closing the Government Office Network. Questions are being raised as to whether it will be more expensive in the longer term as each Ministry and department could create its own mechanisms.

· Labour’s Budget plans were to bring together the RDAs, Government Offices and Homes & Communities Agency in regions to achieve significant savings but also deliver more streamlined and effective regional government, including with a focus on tackling long-term worklessness, secure jobs and growth, and support the "Total Place" agenda at the regional level.