Are regions still relevant?

In my new role as Engagement Development Officer with Compact Voice, I cover three regions – the South West, the West Midlands and the East Midlands. I’ve been trying to build up a picture of Compact activity in those areas and to get a better feel for what’s happening at a local area in the different regions.
 
This has led me to ponder if regions are still relevant. Regional structures and funding have largely been dismantled by the Coalition Government in favour of a policy focus on Localism. David Cameron in a recent speech to the Local Government Association said:

“The Comprehensive Area Assessments, the Place Surveys and Local Area Agreements – we’ve got rid of them. And regional Spatial Strategies, Regional Fire Control Rooms, Government Offices for the Regions – they’re going too. We don’t need regional government. The public want – you want, I want – local government.”

Voluntary sector regional infrastructure organisations such as South West Forum, Regional Action West Midlands and One East Midlands are still there but they have less funding and are having to review and re-think their roles in a post-CapacityBuilders world.
 
Some areas, such as the South West, have well established regional Compacts put in place to help the VCS and regional statutory bodies work well in partnership. However, many of the public sector regional agencies that signed up to them are no longer there.
 
So does Localism mean that regions are now irrelevant? And if that’s the case what are the implications for someone like me working to support the Compact across three ‘areas formerly known as regions’?
 
Last month I was invited to attend a meeting of the West Midlands Compact Panel. The panel brings together both voluntary and statutory sector people working on the Compact in the West Midlands and has been in place for about 6 years. The group meets to share best practice and good ideas about how to implement local Compacts and work in partnership effectively. They also carry out an annual self assessment and identify priorities for the future in the West Midlands.   
 
Whilst not all regions want to have face to face regional Compact meetings, the feedback I’m getting is that local Compact workers from both sectors would welcome the chance to share thinking and experiences with colleagues. And in some cases it makes sense to work together across local Compact areas e.g. to engage public sector partners such as health who may cover a bigger geographical area.
 
So if you agree with me that regions aren’t completely irrelevant and you want to know who else is working on the Compact in your region and find out what they’re up to and what is working well, please get in touch.

Find your nearest Compact Voice Engagement Officer here.