STAFF LEVELS AT ASSEMBLY REVEALED

This is Plymouth

Calls for the scrapping of the South West Regional Assembly have been re-ignited after it was revealed it employs the second highest number of staff of any of England's assemblies and has cost £4.8 million in grants from taxpayers' cash. Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford, in response to a question from Totnes MP Anthony Steen, revealed the assembly employed 56 full-time staff by the end of March 2004.

This represented the second highest payroll of England's eight assemblies .

Nationally, the assemblies employ more than 300 people, even though they have only been set up in shadow form. Labour's dream of elected assemblies in the English regions appears to have been scuppered by last year's rejection of the idea in a referendum in the North-East.

Mr Steen said: "This shows an enormous amount of money has been spent on something that has no statutory responsibility at all. They have this large, full-time staff for what is just a talking club."