Research context
The Government's guidance on Regional Funding Allocations (RFAs) issued in July 2005 is aimed at promoting greater regional discretion and coordination and is 'intended to enable regions to better align their strategies and provide an enhanced input into Government policy development and public spending decisions that affect the regions' (HM Treasury et al, 2005: 3).
In the English regions a common template has been issued setting out how regional advice should be prepared. The guidance requires that procedures for decision making must be inclusive but does not prescribe the process that regions should adopt.
This research will provide an in-depth analysis of the strategies and interactions adopted by regional actors in efforts to secure the improved management of resources within regions. In doing so it will answer three broad questions, namely:
- What should be happening in the regions in terms of making robust decisions about RFAs?
- What is actually happening?
- How can procedures be more effectively managed to bridge this gap?