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Regional Development Agencies and English Regionalisation: The Question of Accountability

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  • A Harding
  • S Wilks-Heeg
  • M Hutchins

Abstract

The English Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) are an uneasy halfway house between a standard quango, answerable to Parliament through a Secretary of State, and the regionally accountable development agencies they will become if the government ultimately tackles the democratic deficit in the English regions by creating new, directly elected regional authorities. The accountability arrangements for RDAs are ambiguous as to whether the agenda of the new agencies will primarily reflect the views of their boards and executives, regional stakeholders, or government ministers and departments. The authors put the current debate about RDA accountability into historical perspective and review its main features. They argue that the debate risks ignoring some important factors which affect the success of RDAs if it does not also (a) examine the issue of accountability within and between the broader constellation of organisations whose efforts must underpin the realisation of regional economic strategies, and (b) address a broader debate about the role of regional institutions— elected or not—in encouraging regional economic innovation and development.

Suggested Citation

  • A Harding & S Wilks-Heeg & M Hutchins, 1999. "Regional Development Agencies and English Regionalisation: The Question of Accountability," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 17(6), pages 669-683, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:17:y:1999:i:6:p:669-683
    DOI: 10.1068/c170669
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    Cited by:

    1. Leonie Janssen-Jansen & Melika Levelt, 2005. "Borderless Space - Ideas for Regional Collaboration," ERSA conference papers ersa05p292, European Regional Science Association.
    2. Darren Webb & Clive Collis, 2000. "Regional Development Agencies and the 'New Regionalism' in England," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(9), pages 857-864.
    3. Steven Musson & Adam Tickell & Peter John, 2002. "Building a World Class Region: Regional Strategy in the South East of England," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 17(3), pages 216-225, August.
    4. C. Fuller & R. J. Bennett & M. Ramsden, 2002. "The Economic Development Role of English RDAs: The Need for Greater Discretionary Power," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 421-428.
    5. Graham Pearce & Sarah Ayres, 2009. "Governance in the English Regions: The Role of the Regional Development Agencies," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(3), pages 537-557, March.

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