A HIDDEN bureaucracy controlling £10bn of public spending in the North-East has been attacked by the leader of the Northern Liberal Democrats.

As the party gathered for its regional conference in Gateshead at the weekend, Coun Chris Foote Wood published a dossier, Land of the 100 Quangos, in which he identified more than 170 unelected bodies operating in the region.

The massive spending budget should be under the direct control of an elected regional assembly, he said. Public spending in the region totalled £12.5bn, but only £2.5bn was handled by local authorities.

"The people of the North-East have no say over 80pc of total public spending in the region," said Coun Foote Wood.

The Government Office for the North-East spends £500m; the Regional Development Agency (One North-East) £177m, and health authorities £416m.

The remaining £9bn is spent directly by Government departments, and by more than 100 Government-appointed bodies, which include road and transport authorities, local offices of agencies like English Nature, and the Community Fund.

There are 71 Government Office North-East "partnerships", including local task forces and housing forums.

Coun Foote Wood said: "The decisions on how this money is allocated are made by senior civil servants in Westminster and Newcastle, and by the quango boards. All are appointed, directly or indirectly, by Government ministers, and are responsible to them.

"Virtually none of these important decision-makers, whose decisions so closely affect the lives of every man, woman and child in the North-East, is known to the public. Very few ever come under public scrutiny."

He said there was no overall strategy or policy for the region, and all should be brought under the control of a single, strategic decision-making body based in the region. "As a democratic society, a body must be directly elected by the people of the North-East," said Coun Foote Wood