Ms Gillian Coughlan:

There are a lot of demands on local authorities and the capacity is just not there to support the regional authorities. I would be critical enough if I felt there was waste at local authority level or if there were people who were surplus to requirements but they are busy. The county development plans are coming up. There is always something. The regional assemblies just do not feature. I recommend having a dedicated officer to focus on this. We have also mentioned reporting up. I would say there was never a motion from a local authority at the Southern Regional Assembly. There certainly was not in my time. Nobody thinks to ask the regional assembly anything and, similarly, as I said at the last meeting, we do not get reports back regularly. It is not factored into the structures or machinery of local government and it needs to be. That goes back to the lack of identity. People do not think about the Southern Regional Assembly as an entity at all.