Commentary on Sections Part 4: Funding for regional chambers
95.Section 25 gives the Secretary of State a new power to make grants in respect of the activities of regional chambers. These are the bodies designated as such under section 8 of the RDA Act.
96.This power will be used to fund the chambers, in particular in their role in scrutinising the Regional Development Agencies. It is also intended that grants will cover the chambers’ costs in providing advice to the Secretary of State in respect of regional planning guidance prepared by him under section 31(6) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. As stated in the White Paper, it is proposed that all eight regional chambers should carry out this role, in the absence of an elected regional assembly.
97.The power in section 25 is to make grants for the purposes of the activities of regional chambers, rather than to make grants only to regional chambers. This is because some regional chambers are currently unincorporated associations and in dealing with such organisations it is often simpler to make the grant to an “accountable body” – one single legal entity as opposed to all the members of the association or some of them. In the case of chambers, this might be the regional Local Government Association or a member local authority, against which action could be taken in the event of a breach of the grant conditions.