Inquiry into the South East England Development Agency and the Regional Economic Strategy - Call for Evidence

The South East Regional Select Committee of the House of Commons is seeking written evidence for its first inquiry on the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and the Regional Economic Strategy (RES).

The Committee is interested in receiving evidence on:

• the role, responsibilities and accountability of SEEDA,

• the process by which the RES was drawn up and the level of involvement of regional stakeholders,

• the effectiveness of the RES for the South East in delivering against its targets including the degree to which the regeneration of areas of deprivation and the former coalfield areas has been successful,

• the effect of the financial and economic situation on businesses in the region including the effect on different sectors such as manufacturing, service industries etc,

• the changes to regional policy proposed in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill and the potential effect on the work of SEEDA,

• the role of other Government agencies such as the Government Office for the South East, and of partnerships between Government agencies, local government and the private sector, in delivering the aims of the RES, and

• how effective initiatives such as Business Link are being in assisting businesses in the current climate, including helping them to gain access to funding both from Government funding streams and through the banking system.
The Committee asks for written submissions in accordance with the guidelines stated below by noon on Monday 20th April 2009, although submissions received after that date will be accepted.

Please note
A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail to regionalcommittees@parliament.uk and marked "South East Regional Committee Inquiry". The Committee's strong preference is for submissions in electronic form, although hard copy originals will be accepted and should be sent to Emma Sawyer, Senior Committee Assistant, at:

Regional Committees
House of Commons
7 Millbank
London SW1P 3JA

Each submission should:
be no more than 3,000 words in length;
begin with a short summary in bullet point form;
have numbered paragraphs; and

(if in electronic form) be in Word format or a rich text format with as little use of colour or logos as possible.

For Data Protection purposes, it would be helpful if individuals submitting written evidence send their contact details separately in a covering letter. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please supply a postal address so that a copy of the Committee's report can be sent to you upon publication.

A guide for written submissions to Select Committees may be found on the parliamentary website at:

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/witnessguide.pdf
Please also note that once submitted, evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee will normally, although not always, choose to make public the written evidence it receives, by publishing it on the internet (where it will be searchable), by printing it or by making it available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Regional Committees: http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/regional.cfm
On the 12 November 2008 the House resolved: “that this House welcomes the Third Report from the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons on Regional Accountability (House of Commons Paper No. 282); approves the proposals for regional select and grand committees for each of the English regions set out in the response from the Government in the White Paper, Regional Accountability (Cm. 7376), except that Chairmen of regional select committees shall not be paid; accordingly endorses the clear expectation that the regional select committees should meet significantly less frequently than departmental select committees; and considers that the combination of select committees providing opportunities for inquiries and reports into regional policy and administration together with opportunities for debate involving all honourable Members from the relevant region will provide a major step forward in the scrutiny of regional policy.”
Debate on 12 November 2008 Hansard (with motion) http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm081112/debtext/81112-0010.htm#08111228000899

Committee Information:
Emma Sawyer, e:mail sawyere@parliament.uk Tel: 020 7219 0654
Sian Woodward (Committee Clerk) e:mail woodwardsm@parliament.uk
Media Information: Laura Kibby, e:mail kibbyl@parliament.uk Tel: 020 7219 0718
Watch committees and parliamentary debates online: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/
Publications / Reports / Reference Material: Copies of all select committee reports are available from the Parliamentary Bookshop (12 Bridge St, Westminster, 020 7219 3890) or the Stationery Office (0845 7023474). Committee reports, press releases, evidence transcripts, Bills; research papers, a directory of MPs, plus Hansard (from 8am daily) and much more, can be found on file://www.parliament.uk/