DEPUTY Prime Minister John Prescott has admitted that he has no idea of the ultimate cost of creating new Northern regional assemblies, nor of the precise powers that will be invested in such bodies.

Mr Prescott was speaking exclusively to the D&S Times on a trans-Pennine train between Liverpool and Newcastle as he visited regional venues for public debates designed to give leaders of commerce and industry the chance to have their say.

Figures produced by Mr Prescott during a 13-minute interview between Darlington and Durham suggested that £25m to £30m had been spent on carrying forward the proposals since they were first unveiled in regional announcements almost two years ago.

He conceded, however, that a more realistic sum would be known only once an independent boundary commission had reported on controversial recommendations for the future of local government, including that in North Yorkshire, leading to assembly referenda in October.

Mr Prescott said a series of public hearings would begin next month, giving ministers a chance to hear views about what powers regional assemblies should have.

His message was that elected regional assemblies could make the Yorkshire region a better place to do business because they would attract more investment and more research and development.

Mr Prescott last Friday attended an information campaign in Leeds, where one observer said later that he had adopted a "scatter-gun" approach which failed to address many key issues including costs and the question of potential benefits to the Yorkshire region.

The assembly idea was backed by Jane Thomas, director of the Campaign for Yorkshire, who said the region had to be able to plan more effectively at a level above local authorities and below national government.

At present, she said, Yorkshire and the Humber received only 77pc of the English average for Government transport funding per head of population, making it the most poorly financed region in the country.

But businesswoman Suzanne Hart, representing the opposition, claimed experience of the Scottish Parliament and the fact that the promised zero cost of the Greater London Authority had so far risen to 50p a week for council tax payers should be a warning about the costs of regional assemblies.

Mr Prescott then travelled to Newcastle for a similar debate on proposals for a North-East assembly.

At that meeting, representatives of the regional Confederation of British Industry said the Government was asking for a leap of faith and claimed scepticism was based on sound evidence that, despite promises of devolution, central government "will simply not let go of the reins".

In the North-East the Government claims support from MetroCentre founder Sir John Hall, who said there had to be "a mind change of everyone in the region and it has to be a revolution".

* Prescott on the train: special

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