Local Government Commission And Cleveland County

EDM number 931 in 1993-94, proposed by Frank Cook on 23/03/1994.

That this House notes that Mr David Ansbro, a commissioner on the Local Government Review of Cleveland, together with his fellow commissioners, recommended the abolition of Cleveland County Council, and the creation of four unitary district authorities for the Cleveland area; notes, too, that these same commissioners supported the establishment of a Tees Valley Development Company in an attempt to ensure the continuance of service delivery which would inevitably be undermined by the abolition of the county authority, this development company to be financed by the aforementioned prospective unitary districts, plus a fifth proposed for Darlington; notes that this development company would become another element in the booming sector of non-elected, non-accountable quangoes; notes further that the legal firm engaged by the district authorities to provide advice and legal expertise in the setting up in the new quango is Eversheds of Middlesbrough; notes with concern that the aforementioned Commissioner David Ansbro is also a senior partner of Eversheds, acting from its Leeds office; and, in view of the questionable nature of this relationship, calls upon the Secretary of State for the Environment to institute an urgent inquiry into the possible clash of interest inherent in this situation, and report to the House in full at an early stage and in any event before placing any order before the House relating to a change in the structure of local government in Cleveland.

This motion has been signed by a total of 5 MPs.