Local authority leaders' boards are voluntary regional associations of council leaders that have been established in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

outside of

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to replace certain functions of the now abolished

regional chamber The regional chambers of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies that were created by the provisions of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. There were eight regional chambers, one for each of the regions of England exce ...

s. The establishment of the boards was part of the

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

's ''Review of Sub-National Economic Development and Regeneration''. which brought forward the Government's plans to alter the structure of regional governance in England and was mandated by the

Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The legislation places a duty on local authorities to promote understanding of the functions and democratic arrangements of th ...

. In June 2010, the new

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announced plans to remove funding from the new boards and to remove their statutory functions. It was indicated that the boards might continue as voluntary associations of council leaders. The remaining four areas of the UK have similar voluntary or mandated associations:

London Councils London Councils is the local government association for Greater London, England. It is a cross-party organisation that represents London's 32 borough councils and the City of London. It was formed in 1995 as a merger of the London Boroughs As ...

, the

Welsh Local Government Association The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) ( cy, Cymdeithas Llywodraeth Leol Cymru) represents the interests of local authorities in Wales. It is an affiliated member of the Local Government Association of England and Wales and the regional emp ...

, the

Convention of Scottish Local Authorities The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) is the national association of Scottish councils and acts as an employers' association for its 32 member authorities. History Formed in 1975, COSLA exists to promote and protect the intere ...

and the Northern Ireland Local Government Association.

The local authority leaders' boards

The leaders' boards are: *

East of England Local Government Association The East of England Local Government Association (EELGA) is an association of the 52 local authorities in the East of England. It is a regional grouping of the Local Government Association and the regional employers organisation. It was establishe ...

* East Midlands Councils *

Association of North East Councils The Association of North East Councils was a partnership body made up of representatives of local authorities in North East England. It was a regional grouping of the Local Government Association. In April 2009 it assumed the role of the regional ...

(closed in March 2016) *

North West Regional Leaders Board The North West Regional Leaders Board is the Local Authority Leaders’ Board for the North West region of England. It was established on 15 July 2008 and replaced the North West Regional Assembly. It was initially based at Wigan, in Greater Manch ...

South East England Councils South East England Councils (SEEC) is a voluntary association of council leaders from the 74 local authorities in the South East region of England. It is a regional grouping of the Local Government Association. It was established following the ab ...

South West Councils South West Councils is an association of council leaders from the South West of England. It is a regional grouping of the Local Government Association and the regional employers organisation. It was established in May 2009 following the aboliti ...

West Midlands Councils West Midlands Councils was a regional grouping of the Local Government Association. It was established as the Local Authority Leaders’ Board for the West Midlands region of England. It assumed the functions previously carried out by the West Mi ...

Local Government Yorkshire and Humber Local Government Yorkshire and Humber (LGYH) was the partnership of local authorities, including fire, police and national park authorities, across Yorkshire and Humber. It had links to the Local Government Association at national level and incorpo ...

(closed in March 2015) Each leaders' board corresponds to a

region of England The regions, formerly known as the government office regions, are the highest tier of sub-national division in England, established in 1994. Between 1994 and 2011, nine regions had officially devolved functions within government. While they no ...

Structure and functions

When the regional chambers were abolished, their executive functions transferred to the regional development agencies, and their scrutiny functions became exercised by the new leader's boards. The RDA and the leader's board were to jointly produce a new Single Regional Strategy, with ministers exercising an oversight function. The UK Government did not propose a set structure for the boards and each region was free to make its own arrangements. The Government however did aim for the boards to be: * streamlined and manageable, able to make strategic, long-term decisions; * representative of local authorities across the whole of their region — including representing key sub-regions, upper and lower tier authorities and the political balance of leaders; * composed of local authority leaders and with sufficient authority to act on behalf of all the local authorities in the region.

Withdrawal of funding

In June 2010, the new

announced its intentions to abolish regional strategies and return spatial planning powers to local government. These plans include the withdrawal of funding to the existing eight local authority leaders' boards with their statutory functions also being assumed by local councils. The boards may continue to exist as voluntary associations of council leaders, funded by the local authorities themselves. They continue to exist as regional groupings of the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association. The LGA is p ...

References

External links

Regional Groupings - from the LGA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Local Authority Leaders' Board Regional planning in England Regionalism (politics) in the United Kingdom

The local authority leaders' boards

Structure and functions

Withdrawal of funding

See also

References

External links