4. An assembly will be able to precept council tax to pay for itself, resulting in higher council tax bills for local ratepayers.

The costs of the London Assembly have already exceeded the Government's original estimate by 400%.

The London model, the same one envisaged for the North East, has 25 members chosen by proportional representation - and also a mayor, Ken Livingstone. In three years, the mayor's office has grown from 33 to 73 staff; many involved in presentational and political roles. He has14 press officers and the cost of this operation alone is £781,000 while the annual salary bill is £608,000.

The authority is housed in a new building - the unfortunately shaped City Hall nicknamed "the glass testicle" which cost £43 million to build, next to Tower Bridge. It was designed to house 429 members of staff - there were just 287 when the authority was set up. Yet the number has now risen to 628, which has meant that the GLA has had to rent office space in a nearby complex.

This year's budget for the GLA is £56 million, a 12 per cent increase on the previous year. A further £41 million is spent on management and support services.