Community, Public Policy

With elections underway in Scotland and Wales, and the RDAs up and running in England outside London, the regional dimension is now a reality. Many battles lie ahead before central government departments give up their power; for example, Community Affairs Briefing has argued before that companies should lobby hard for RDAs to have effective powers over TECs - the long delay in announcing the outcome of the TEC review, reported below, is a sign of the fierce battle now raging in Whitehall.

What are the implications of the new regional tier for community relations managers? In the age of down-sizing, many national companies no longer have regional management tiers. Those with extensive branch networks, like banks and retailers, still do - but they tend not to have an external relations function. With the obvious exception of the utilities, virtually all community affairs is either very local or very national.

This will be increasingly unsustainable. Since headcount is unlikely to rise, existing staff will have to be given responsibility for regional relations. Looked at positively, this is another opportunity for mainstreaming into the business.

Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 45 - April, 1999