English Parliament or British Regions ( English or British)

TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 8th August 2008

Structure of Government 3:The case for abolishing the Regional Development Agencies

The latest paper in the Structure of Government series, published today, demonstrates conclusively that the Regional Development Agencies have contributed nothing to the economic development of England's regions, despite costing taxpayers billions. Using detailed and comprehensive analysis of regional economic development over the last fifteen years, the report shows that in almost every measure their allotted regions performed better in the seven years before the Agencies were established than in the years since they were set up. The £15.3 billion spent on RDAs since 1999 has been wasted, and the report shows that their budget of £2.19 billion a year could be much better spent providing a 4 pence cut in the small business rate of Corporation Tax, which would offer a genuine economic shot in the arm to the regional economies. As well as a damning indictment of a failed regional policy, the report exposes the lack of accountability and transparency that riddle a government structure that is both impossibly complex and overly reliant on unaccountable quangos.You can read the full report here.

We're pleased to report that the case to abolish the RDAs has had exceptionally good coverage in the media and a great response from taxpayers across the country. Here is the media run-down:

BBC Radio 4: Today Programme: The TPA's Mark Wallace debated RDAs with the Chief Executive of the North West Development Agency (Click to listen - scroll forward to 53 minutes)Financial Times: £15bn spent on regions 'has been thrown away' Daily Mail: £15bn gravy train Daily Telegraph: Regional agencies labelled a £15bn failure Daily Express: £15bn "wasted" on Labour's quangos BBC News Online: Agencies branded 'waste of money' Telegraph.co.uk: Matthew Elliott: Regional Development Agencies should be abolished
Politics.co.uk: Govt shedding £15 billion on regional development agencies Teletext: Agencies 'a waste of money' Newcastle Journal: Scrap agency call Huddersfield Examiner: '£15bn wasted' LaunchLab.co.uk: Scrap RDAs and slash small business tax, ministers urged Lancashire Evening Post: Call to scrap £482m quango Management Today: RDAs: a waste of £15bn? Lancashire Telegraph: Lancashire regeneration agency boss hits back at 'failed quango' claim
Birmingham Post: Billions were squandered on Regional Development Birmingham Post: Plans to boost power of RDAs no cause for joy
Western Morning News: What a waste of our money! Evening Gazette: Agencies ‘a waste’ Express & Star: £15bn ‘waste’ claim as agencies blasted Southern Daily Echo: SEEDA branded a waste of money Public Servant: Report calls RDAs a 'resounding failure' Brighton Argus: Taxpayers’ group claims Seeda is huge waste of money Manchester Evening News: Taxpayers' watchdog slams £15bn 'waste' Liverpool Daily Post: We've helped NW economy to thrive - Broomhead hits back at NWDA critics Local Government Chronicle: RDAs: '£15bn thrown away' 24dash.com: Regional Development Agencies 'a waste of taxpayers' money' Property Week News: Call to scrap RDAs Northern Echo: Agencies are under fire for ‘wasting taxpayers’ money’ Essex Echo: Regeneration agency costs £600 per home
TPA spokesmen have also appeared on BBC Breakfast News and numerous local radio stations today, and the large number of new supporters who have joined up shows that the report has landed a heavy blow on these wasteful bodies and highlighted the woeful disorganisation of British Government.

You can help to get the RDAs abolished
To keep the pressure up on the RDAs it would be great if you could write to your local paper on the issue to follow up the initial media splash.

There is a lot of information in the report itself, along with various examples of waste and a full RDA rich list for you to draw on for facts. Here are a few key points you might want to highlight:
RDAs have failed to improve performance in new jobs, employment rates or attracting new businesses
Outside of London and the South East, growth was faster before RDAs were established
RDAs have cost each household £600 since their formation and the evidence shows we aren't getting value for money
Scrapping RDAs could cut small business corporation tax by 4%, which would be a far better motor for growth and job creation