Stunell tells minister to press ahead with North West Assembly
December 16, 2003 12:00 AM
Local MP Andrew Stunell has given a cautious thumbs up to the North West Regional Assembly in Parliament but is urging the Deputy Prime Minister to put power back in assemblies that has been sucked up by bureaucrats in Whitehall and unelected quangos.
Andrew Stunell said:
"The North West Assembly should have responsibility for taking decisions that effect North West people and the power to do so. Unelected quangos spend well over £730 million without any accountability to anyone in the North West. That alone is a huge reason for voting YES in next year's referendum.
"If the North West Assembly brings improved accountability and better service delivery, we're likely to get more bangs for our bucks in Health and Transport.
"But the proposal to have one representative for the entire Stockport area simply isn't good enough. We need assurances from the minister that the assembly will be democratic and accountable to us so that we can shout a resounding YES to the North West Assembly."
ENDS
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