THE concept of regional government is an attractive one. Who can deny that the regions should have greater control over their destiny?

We have in place a tier of quangoes and government bodies charged with the task of allocating every year £1bn of public money across the North-East.

The drawback to the current system is that these agencies are unelected, accountable not to the local communities but to their political masters 250 miles away in London.

The benefits of shortening the chain of command are self-evident.

This Government's interest in regional government has waxed and waned. But today Deputy Prime Minister will outline his apparent commitment to a new phase of devolution.

We welcome the challenge he has thrown to the North-East to pioneer regional government in England.

We will be happy to support the creation of an elected and accountable North-East assembly, if its terms of reference and structure meet the needs of the region.

We accept that the North-East is a prime candidate for regional government because of its homogeneity, compared to others parts of the country.

Nevertheless, within our region there are wide variations of opinion, prosperity and social and economic priorities. These must be reflected in whatever model of regional assembly is evolved.

We will expect the proportional representation electoral model of the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies to be adopted.

We will also expect recognition of the concerns felt by many in the southern parts of the region that the assembly will be dominated by Tyneside opinion and interest.

The assembly needs to demonstrate its relevance to every community within the region. It will find it difficult to do that by having its power base in Newcastle.

Moving the meetings of the assembly around different parts of the region will allay only some of these concerns.

It is the site of the administrative base of the assembly that will be the crucial issue to be determined by architects of the devolved structure.

We maintain that Durham City, already a natural focal point for the region, remains the best option for the headquarters.