The West Midlands Regional Assembly (WMRA) was the
regional chamber for the
West Midlands region of
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 ...
, established in 1999. It was based in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
. It was abolished on 31 March 2010, its functions transferring to
West Midlands Leaders Board and to
Advantage West Midlands.
Organisation
The assembly was not an elected body and was made up of 100 members of which:
*68 were nominated from local authorities across the region, including
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
,
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...
, borough and city councils.
*16 were from the business sector.
*16 were from regional interest groups such as trade unions, parish councils and environmental groups.
Role
The main functions performed by the WMRA included:
* Channelling regional opinions to the business-led
regional development agency (
Advantage West Midlands).
* Carrying out advocacy and consultancy roles with national government bodies and the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
,
* The Assembly is the
Regional Planning Body with a duty to formulate a
Regional Spatial Strategy.
References
External links
West Midlands Regional AssemblyAdvantage West Midlands - Regional Development AgencyGovernment Office for the West MidlandsGovernment's list of councils in the West MidlandsWest Midlands NO! Campaign
{{Authority control
Organizations established in 1999
Organizations disestablished in 2010
1999 establishments in England
2010 disestablishments in England
Local government in the West Midlands (region)
Regional assemblies in England
Organisations based in Birmingham, West Midlands
Defunct organisations based in the United Kingdom