North East Assembly

Prescott's regional scheme is well and truly hoist on its own petard.

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An extraordinary impasse has arisen in the North-East of England, following the referendum last November in which voters threw out John Prescott's plan for an elected regional assembly by an overwhelming margin of four-to-one.

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Last week the unelected North-East Assembly, made up of councillors and representatives of local bodies, announced that it was to set itself up as a limited company under a new name.

The reason publicly given for this by the Assembly's chairman, Alex Watson, was that they wished "to engage with the public better than we have done". What Mr Watson did not reveal was the real reason for this new policy.

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The embarrassing fact is that, since the unelected assembly was an unincorporated body, its members were personally responsible for all its financial obligations, including the contracts and pension rights of its employees. Between them they had thus unwittingly taken on liabilities amounting to millions of pounds. Initially the assembly tried to deny this, however the point has been confirmed by lawyers.

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It appears that the councillors on the North-East Assembly have taken on a personal liability from which it is impossible for them to extricate themselves.

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The police are currently investigating evidence that they also have been acting in clear breach of the law. Other English regional assmblies will be in the same position.

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Those organisations that 'consult' (both directly and indirectly) with the North East Assembly should concider that not only does it not have any power, it has no mandate from the people and it is also probably illegal.