Fourteen-year-old Tom Burton lives in Sunniside, near Crook, in the Durham Dales. A pupil at Wolsingham Comprehensive School, in Weardale, he is active in local theatre, writes a column for Wear Valley District Council's newspaper and has sat on community forums.

"I have to be honest and say that until I was asked to write this piece for The Northern Echo, I did not really know about the regional government debate.

I decided to find out more and discussed the subject with my father. As we talked, I came to the conclusion that a regional government for the North-East would be a good thing.

The reason I came to that decision, having examined both sides of the argument, was because the North-East region does need an organisation to represent it on major issues and, clearly, a regional government would be able to do that job.

I think that, if it gets the go-ahead, it should be a powerful organisation able to make key decisions for the North-East, but I do not believe it should make all the decisions for the North-East. I think there are some big decisions that should still be taken in Whitehall.

However, there are plenty of decisions which could be made by a regional government, such as how to attract big employers to the area and create jobs, and issues such as transport that are particularly important to the region. That makes sense to me.

I also think it is important that the new regional government is given the money to spend on its decisions. I do not think it would work otherwise.

All in all, I can see the advantages of having a regional government. I take this view because of the practicalities of an organisation that can represent the region and not because I feel particularly part of the North-East. In truth, I do not have a strong sense of being part of the region. As far as I am concerned, I come from the Durham Dales - and I think a lot of people feel like that about where they live.

That leads me on to the other big decision that people have to make in the autumn. I realise that there is a big question to be asked about which tier of local government should be removed to make way for a regional government, that is if people vote yes to one.

My opinion is that Durham County Council should be removed and the district councils allowed to survive, although it seems they will have to be amalgamated to make larger councils than we have at the moment.

I know people can put forward arguments for keeping the county council, but I think areas such as Sunniside and other small villages and towns of the county would be best served by councils that are based locally and could make informed decisions on local issues. District councils have not neglected us over the years and I think they would fulfil this role much better than a larger county council.

However, I think there is a larger problem with the whole regional government debate - namely that not enough people realise how important it is. Certainly, asking among the young people I know, they are oblivious to what is happening. I know they cannot vote yet, but it is important that everyone knows what is happening.

I think there is a general problem with teenagers anyway. I was in a class the other day and the teacher asked us about Tony Blair, and one girl asked: "Who is he?"

I do not think that means there is anything particularly wrong with politicians, I just think it is the way teenagers are. The fact is that, in a few years, they will be able to vote.

And if I was able to vote in the referendum this autumn, I would definitely vote for a regional government."