The North West Regional Assembly (NWRA) was the

regional chamber The regional chambers of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies that were created by the provisions of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. There were eight regional chambers, one for each of the regions of England exce ...

for the

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

region of the

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 ...

. It was based at

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

, in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

. It was abolished in July 2008.

Creation and functions

The assembly was created by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. The first meeting was held in 1999. In July 2003 the assembly was reconstituted to combine its existing functions with those of the regional arm of the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association. The LGA is p ...

and of the Regional Employers Organisation. The NWRA acted as the representative voice of the region and worked to promote the economic, environmental and social well-being of the North West of England. The key functions of the assembly were: *Co-ordinate the public expenditure of local authorities *Act as regional planning body *Scrutinise the work of the

Northwest Regional Development Agency The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) was the regional development agency for the North West England region and was a non-departmental public body.NWDA Who We Are/ref> It was abolished on 31 March 2012. The Agency was responsible for t ...

Abolition

Following criticism of the regional assemblies, it was proposed in July 2007 that they will be axed, losing their role by 2010. A regional leaders forum known as 4NW''' was established on 15 July 2008 and the NWRA ceased to exist.NWRA :: Home
/ref>

Organisation

Membership of the NWRA was not by direct election. The NWRA represented the interests of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

and

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

and had 80 members nominated by

Local Authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

, business, trade unions, further and higher education, environmental interests, and the voluntary, cultural and community sectors including sport and tourism.

Senior Officers

NWRA Political Group Leaders

References

External links

North West Regional AssemblyLocal Government Association
Regional assemblies in England 1999 establishments in England 2008 disestablishments in England Local government in North West England {{planning-stub