[Josh Mynott]

Yes, agreed and all that, but I always felt that the seeming constant growth in regional bodies never helped accountability. I think there were always two problems. The first is that it made more distant the link between electorate and where (and how) decisions were made (and thus reduced transparency, clarity etc), and the second is that the logisitcs of regional scrutiny can be phenomenally complex, much more so than regionally based executive working.

I acknowledge the importance of regional working in many areas, but have a yearning in favour of simplicity, and in making the connection between the electorate and the decision as clear as possible.

Anyway, go for L'eaders. Makes it sound continental and sophisticated

[Tom Hook]

Regional government always struggles for legitimacy because of the lack of direct elections. Whilst there are some very obvious arguments that this reduces accountability I think it can actually aid policy development.

The regional tier of government has not suffered from politicians looking over the horizon at the next election. Politically difficult decisions such as allocations for gypsy and traveller site provision, housing development and resources for transport schemes are all easier in a regional context.

Additionally regional assemblies benefited from a significant expertise from non-councillor stakeholders from business and third sectors. Again it can be argued that this was helpful for more rounded decision-making.

It can be hard to do regional scrutiny well as it requires members to take a broader perspective on issues and ignore the local context. The necessity of regional scrutiny reduces significantly if resources being allocated through regional bodies, and the number of regional bodies, decline.

I'd argue however that regions that don't keep leaders boards in some manner will lose out, however funding them and the support arrangements will be difficult. I'd imagine this will probably have to be provided on a minimal basis within a member authority, rather than having an independent policy capacity.