asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to abolish the county councils in England and replace them with a series of elected regional authorities.

No. The Government's consultation document "Devolution: the English Dimension "published in December 1976 sought views on the case for setting up elected regional authorities in England. But the response to that document revealed practically no support for such regional authorities. The Government would not initiate a major change of this kind without evidence of a broad consensus of support.