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Business of the House

My hon. Friend makes an interesting suggestion and I assure him that the Government will consider it carefully. However, he makes an unfortunate observation about the role of civil servants in the regions. They are of course accountable to this Parliament through the Minister who is responsible for their activities, and that has not changed. One of the benefits of having civil servants operating in the regional centres is that they are closer to the people whom they affect by their decisions. That is something that I would have thought that my hon. Friend would welcome.