Regional assembly vote dates due

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is keen on regional assemblies

Voters in three English regions will find out from the government on Thursday when they are expected to vote on regional elected assemblies.

Yorkshire-and-Humber, the North East and North West voters will be asked to say yes or no to assemblies and choose new structures of local government.

The date, expected to be in November, will be read out in Parliament.

The referendums are intended to be all-postal, despite criticism of postal voting trials in June's local polls.

Those postal voting trials were criticised over delays, errors and fraud, and are still being reviewed by the Electoral Commission.

The BBC's local government correspondent John Andrew said that could cause problems for deputy prime minister John Prescott - who has championed regional devolution - in keeping to the referendum timetable.

But ministers say the commission, expected to report in mid-September, would have to produce convincing evidence that the system was unsafe before they would delay the referendums.

The deputy prime minister has already faced protests from anti-devolution campaigners in the regions, following an awareness-raising advertising campaign.

The North West Says No campaign accused Mr Prescott of wasting £5m of taxpayers' money on "propaganda".