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The South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) is the regional assembly for the South West region of England, established in 1999. It is based in Exeter and Taunton. The SWRA is a partnership of councillors from all local authorities in the region and representatives of various sectors with a role in the region's economic, social and environmental well-being. It covers an area of 23,829 square kilometres including Gloucestershire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and represents a population of almost five million people.

Contents 1 Organisation 2 Role 3 Opposition to SWRA 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

The assembly is not an elected body but is made up of 119 members, of which:

• 79 come from the 51 Unitary, County and District Authorities in the South West
• 2 represent the National Parks Authorities in the region.
• 2 come from the Association of Local Councils.
• 36 represent the region’s Social, Economic and Environmental Partners (SEEPs). The SEEPs are drawn from a range of sectors including businesses, the voluntary sector, education and training, environmental bodies, faith communities, trades unions, tourism, health, agriculture, Racial Equality Councils, co-operative agencies, Learning and Skills Councils, Business Links and Culture.

Membership is reviewed by local authorities every year, and changes reflect political proportionality across the region after local elections. The SEEP representatives are nominated by regional Groups and these are reviewed at least every four years, so the Membership is fairly fluid.

The main functions performed by the SWRA include:-

• Channelling regional opinions to the business-led Regional Development Agency
• Carrying out advocacy and consultancy roles with national government bodies and the European Union,
• The Assembly is the Regional Planning Body with a duty to formulate a Regional Spatial Strategy.

There was much opposition to the formation of the South West Regional Assembly with critics saying it is an unelected unrepresentative and unaccountable "quango", and the area covered is an artificially imposed region and not natural. They say that by having the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall in the west being in the same region as Gloucestershire in the east, geographically it would be the same for example as linking London with Yorkshire. The feeling is especially strong in Cornwall where in July 2000 Mebyon Kernow issued the "Declaration for a Cornish Assembly". "Cornwall is a distinct region. It has a clearly defined economic, administrative and social profile. Cornwall's unique identity reflects its Celtic character, culture and environment. We declare that the people of Cornwall will be best served in their future governance by a Cornish regional assembly. We therefore commit ourselves to setting up the Cornish Constitutional Convention with the intention of achieving a devolved Cornish Assembly - Senedh Kernow." In less than two years, it had attracted the signatures of over 50,000 people, which is a little over 10% of the total Cornish electorate. A delegation led by the West Cornwall Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George and representatives of the Convention (Bert Biscoe, Richard Ford, Dick Cole, David Fieldsend and Andrew Climo Thompson) presented the declaration to 10 Downing Street on Wednesday 12 December 2001. ^[1] Cornwall Council's Feb 2003 MORI poll showed 55% in favour of an elected, fully-devolved regional assembly for Cornwall and 13% against. (Previous result :46% in favour in 2002). ^[2]

The campaign has the support of all five Cornish Lib Dem MPs, Mebyon Kernow, and Cornwall Council.

Lord Whitty, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, in the House of Lords, recognised that Cornwall has a "special case" for devolution.^[3] and on a visit to Cornwall deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said "Cornwall has the strongest regional identity in the UK."

English Core Cities Group Regional Assemblies in England

• South West Regional Assembly
• Campaign for a Cornish Assembly
• Petition for a Cornish Assembly
• Cornish Lib Dems Support Cornish Assembly

1. ^ BBC News 11th December 2001 [1]
2. ^ Give Cornwall what it wants. [2]
3. ^ House of Lords debates, Wednesday, 21 March 2001, "Devolution: England" transcript of speech