The Social and Environmental Partners

The Assembly has 111 members. 77 of these are nominated by the Local Authorities in the Region from amongst their elected members. Seventeen (15%) are Economic Partners and seventeen are Social and Environmental Partners (SEPs). For a list of current SEPs click here .

SEPs play a full and decisive role in the decision making process of the Regional Assembly. They currently have seats, and voting rights, on all the Assembly Committees

RAISE works to strengthen SEPs' effectiveness and accountability by:

• reporting their meetings and decisions;
• ensuring that they follow correct procedures in all their actions;
• cascading information about their work to RAISE networks.

RAISE encourages greater involvement in Assembly structures where, currently, there is limited VCO involvement, including:

• policy forums;
• select committees;
• Regional Task Force;
• Advisory Groups.

RAISE works to ensure that basic principles like social inclusion and sustainable development are included in all Assembly decisions. By developing policy in response to emerging Regional strategies, the SEPs continue to influence Regional policy making, at the same time increasing their influence.

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