THOSE who see the proposed regional assembly simply as an additional level of local government appear not to have understood what is on offer.

What is on offer is that which exists in Cleveland today. In this county there are only four unitary authorities and no county council.

Compare this with the situation in Durham, where we have a county council, one unitary authority (Darlington) and seven district councils. This means that the people of Durham have over twice as many councils and councillors as the people of Cleveland.

The proposals for the regional assembly state quite clearly that, before an assembly can come into being, only one other level of local government, excluding town and parish councils, can remain in place. So, in Durham, we will have the choice: we can get rid of over half the councils and councillors or leave things as they are.

As a supporter of regional government, I look forward to paying for and having the same representation as the people of Cleveland. On a regional basis, this could ensure a minimum of five councils being scrapped so that one regional assembly could come into being. In the long run, savings will be made. - Brian Gibson, Socialist Labour Party, Ferryhill.

A RECENT Teletext poll stated 87 per cent of the North-East did not want a regional assembly. This was eclipsed by the South-East where 94 per cent were against.

Members of Parliament should object strongly and feel insulted that they are perceived as not doing their job for their constituents, needing another body to transmit their needs and aspirations.

Another layer of scapegoats or talking-heads is the last thing we need. We have elected 651 Members of Parliament to look after our interests.

It's the irrelevance of the House of Commons that causes apathy. Days wasted on foxhunting, yah-boo politics, and play-pen behaviour in the chamber.

The country is crying out for strong, constant leadership, not quick fixes and weather vane spin.

If the Government pushes the seven regional assemblies, the present Parliament of 651 should be stood down as irrelevant to the needs and wishes of local people. - R Harbron, Norton, Stockton.

THAT John Prescott is recommending a North-East regional assembly should be enough to give everyone a severe warning.

Do we really need yet another layer of government with the ensuing never ending tail of civil servants and hangers-on? I think not.

Who is going to pay for all this bureaucracy? The good old long-suffering ratepayer, of course.

Initially, the bulk of the cost of the assembly will be met by the Government, so it will only cost the ratepayer 5p a week. This will only sugar the pill.

In a couple of years, the Government support will be cut and rates will have to increase dramatically to cover the cost of this burgeoning bureaucracy.

As it is, my rates in Darlington have increased by over 25 per cent in the last two years due to council overspending.

Mr Prescott says that democracy has a price and if we get an assembly we will certainly pay for it - through the nose.

What the North-East needs is not a regional assembly but the revision of the outdated Barnett Formula which so favours Scotland.

With so many Labour seats coming from north of the Border, there is very little chance of that happening. - K Peacock, Hurworth Place, Darlington.

WHILE the sight of Messrs Prescott and Byers together plugging the idea of a North-East Assembly should have been enough to put anyone off the idea, we should all be aware that this concept is very much an EU-inspired move and therefore another step along the way towards an EU state.

Replacing national identities and governments with regionalisation appears to be their long-term goal and we should resist this break-up of England. - Bob East, Bishop Auckland.

I WAS dismayed to read that the Government is planning to set up a North-East Assembly.

Oh dear, another bureaucratic group of people wallowing around in their own red tape, and to what effect?

That we do not know, but what we know is who will pay the price for this folly - of course the council tax payers. There will be a mercenary scramble by councillors to also become regional assembly members.

This Government is running around in ever-decreasing circles and is in danger of disappearing up its own you know what. The problem is the Conservatives are already well entrenched in their nether regions.

All readers of The Northern Echo should vigorously protest against this monumental folly which can only result in more expense for taxpayers. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.

JUST as the accident-prone Stephen Byers gets embroiled in another high profile Parliamentary storm, his White Paper proposing regional government slips out.

It proposes elected regional assemblies, followed by a wholesale reorganisation of local government. These assemblies are to have the right to impose local taxes, although the demand will somewhat stealthily be rolled into our council tax demands.

The choice we will be denied will be on whether our taxes are spent on a layer of regional bureaucracy and salaries in the first place. Evidence shows that the prototype regional assemblies that the Government has set up in the North are basically talking shops, and I'd much rather my taxes were spent on what local people not politicians want.

Regional spin doctors are already hyping "strong demand" when polls actually show that five out of six hardly even think about it! Although majorities feel national and local identity more strongly, we must be pushed towards an artificial regional set-up that is EU-inspired. - George Nicholson, Whalton, Morpeth.