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Economic Downturn (Unemployment)

As I said earlier in response to the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown), the compelling reason for having regional structures is so that we can co-ordinate and deliver the city region model. The great cities of our region, the conurbations of Bournemouth and Poole, Plymouth, Bristol and Swindon, have significant influence on their surrounding rural and semi-rural areas. We miss a trick in such places if we deliver services only as Government in Whitehall or as local authorities. We need a process that is somewhere in between, but it must be accountable. The regional Minister, the Regional Select Committee and the Regional Grand Committee allow for that accountability. I was delighted to be appointed Minister for this region. I have lived in three of the region’s counties, been elected in two of them and worked for a number of years in a fourth county of the region. Geographically, this is the largest of the English regions, stretching from Swindon to the Isles of Scilly. The distance from Tewkesbury to Land’s End is as far as from Tewkesbury to Scotland.