ABSTRACT
This chapter examines in more detail the Government Offices for the English Regions (GORs) established in April 1994 (see Chapter 7). It assesses both the factors which led the Major government to introduce this novel form of regional government, as well as how the GORs operated in terms of the policy making process and in implementation of government policies within the regions. The first part of the chapter sets out some of the underlying pressures which led to the re-emergence of the regional dimension as an issue in public policy. It then goes on to explore the government's response to the mounting pressures on its urban and regional programmes and their administration, leading to the 1992 Conservative Party manifesto commitments (Conservative Party 1992, p.39) and the November 1993 announcement (Department of the Environment 1993a) to establish a new strengthened regional machinery. An analysis is then presented of the internal structure of the offices, their relationships with Whitehall and other government agencies and departments, and with their regions during their first two years of operation. Finally, consideration is given to how far the offices can be said to have met the objectives set for them during this period and how their role was viewed by others.
