North East Assembly employees frantically check their contracts of employment

Have they also been deceived? They could end up jobless and penniless and forced to sue the Assembly members to uphold their contractual obligations.
The North East public were certainly duped by the political con trick as the unelected assembly (the vast majority of the public were wholly unaware of its existence) still exists, but once they realise who is funding the con trick there will be another very heavy political price to pay.
As more threads unravel the more precarious the position of the assembly will become until it becomes every man for himself.
Sales of the Guardian at the Guildhall newsagents next to the Assembly have soared.

16th November

Dear Mr ******** (name witheld)
Thank you for your email of 6th October.
I referred your concerns to the National Audit Office whose work is examined by the Committee. They have advised me that you have already raised your concerns with them and that they can only re-iterate the information contained in their earlier response.
The South West Regional Assembly is a voluntary body which is primarily funded by a Central Government grant. The grant carries a set of conditions which outlines the way in which the Assembly may use it. The use to which this grant is put is scrutinised by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and ODPM are satisfied that the Assembly has met the grant conditions.The accountable body for the South West Regional Assembly is the South West Regional Assembly Board which is an employers association under S122 of the TU and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
We are advised that their auditors are Robson Rhodes, 10 Queens Square, Bristol BS1 4NT. Any queries regarding the employment of staff is a matter between the Assembly and its employees. If you have any further concerns about the Assembly's legal position you should contact the Assembly directly.
Yours sincerelyChristine Randall
Committee Assistant.
Committee of Public Accounts

Unquote.This reply is really quite helpful.
It is a lot clearer than most I have received before.
Although not stated directly it says that the ODPM is not responsible for pension rights of the staff. Employment terms are a matter between the staff and the SWRA Board. This has to mean that the staff are employed by people who, having no money of their own, may not be able to honour the pension terms of the employment contracts.
By inference the position of Local Authorities is the same:
Not me, thanks They are the minor funders in any case.So the staff will have to rely on the Board which is currently talking about registration, whereby they could dodge responsibility.
A question arises in all this as to whether the SWRA's staff are public servants.

In the North East the situation is different...with £858,450 (over a third) of the NEA's total budget coming from local ratepayers via the local authorities voluntary subscriptions.
If the local authorities start to withdraw their funding then who pays the salaries, pensions and redundancy payments.
"Not me Guv!" says the ODPM.
"Not me Guv!" says the Local Authorities because legally they cannot as they will face censure from the District Auditor... the only guarantee that they have had against the threat of their councillors being pursued for 'Misfeasance of Public Office,' came from no other than the Director of the Assembly, Mr. Stephen Barber.
So who pays and who is liable?
If I was one of the members I would be taking legal advice immediately, and then handing in my resignation.

Unincorporated Association
Despite the name, this is actually a legally recognised structure. It usually consists of a management or executive committee and a number of members. The association normally has a constitution, which sets out its aims and objectives and provides the terms of reference which regulate the association's activities. The membership may attend meetings (apart from the Committee meetings). The committee is normally elected during the Annual General Meeting where members are nominated to serve as officers and members of the Committee and members attending the meeting vote on these proposals.
The classic example of this kind of group is a local community association where there will be a continuous membership, which represents the community. The members will come together to co-operate on a project but not all the members will want to be involved in the detail of everyday activity and will be happy for the Committee to take over these responsibilities. This structure is ideal where there are no serious contractual obligations (such as leases or full-time employees) for which the management committee members could become liable.