DEPUTY Prime Minister John Prescott will today clear the way for the North West to have its own elected Assembly.

He will this afternoon announce the region can hold a referendum for the public to vote on whether to create the new tier of regional government.

It is expected he will confirm the region will join the North East and Yorkshire and Humberside in the first wave of referenda on English devolution.

It is likely voters will go to the polls sometime in autumn 2004, fulfilling the Government's pledge to create elected Assemblies before the next election - assuming there is a "yes" vote.

Labour first promised elected regional assemblies in its 1997 general election manifesto but only if backed by the electorate in a referendum and if two-tier local government was abolished.

The Prime Minister is known to be lukewarm on English devolution, preferring instead elected mayors with real power.

He eventually gave his blessing to last year's White Paper "Your Region, Your Choice" after the proposals were watered down.

Liverpool Riverside Labour MP Louise Ellman has been working with Mr Prescott on plans for English devolution since the early 1980s.

She said it was now time for those who believed in it to begin selling the idea. "It's vital that the public are engaged.

"I've thought for many years that those who believe in the case for devolution have only been talking to one another."

Mrs Ellman said an elected Assembly would be accountable to the people of the region and be able to fight its corner.

She said: "This is about issues like transport, where there's nobody currently looking at it across the region, it's about prosperity and jobs.

"An Assembly will tell the Government when it's not being fair to the North West and give us a strong voice when it comes to arguing for our fair share. People will be able to focus on the bigger picture."

Southport's Liberal Democrat MP John Pugh said he backed the proposals but saw them as a first step for more power to be given to the region from Whitehall.

He said: "As someone who has lived in the North West all my life, I want to see the region given the powers to take charge of its own destiny. I welcome the Government's plans as a step in the right direction, albeit a small step.

"I would like more powers devolved from Whitehall along the lines that the Welsh Assembly or Scottish Parliament already have.

"A role for an Assembly in health and education would be more than helpful.

"My view is that the legislation will hopefully serve as a Trojan horse for more power to the regions."

But many North West MPs remain unconvinced by the plans.

Labour's George Howarth, who represents Knowsley North and Sefton East, has proposed a Greater Merseyside Assembly, along the lines of the one that is currently running London.

WHO WILL RULE? THERE ARE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS >>>

BEFORE there is a referendum, the Government will redraw the council map of the North West to honour its commitment to having a single tier of local authorities.

This was put in at the insistence of the Prime Minister to counter the charge that regional government will mean another layer of bureaucracy.

Originally this would have mean county councils being carved up and replaced by new single tier - or unitary authorities - along the lines of those currently in place on Merseyside.

But the Government has accepted a proposal from the Liberal Democrats that will allow historic counties, such as Cheshire and Lancashire, to be kept.

On the ballot paper there will be a single question asking voters if they want an elected regional assembly and a new single tier of local government.

In county areas, they will also be asked if they want their county council to be the new unitary authority which would lead to the scrapping of second tier authorities such as Chester City and West Lancashire District.

There will be no boundary changes to councils that are already unitary authorities. What is unclear is how much power any elected Assembly will take away from councils.

FUNDED by a levy on the council tax and a block grant from Whitehall, a North West Assembly would have between 25 and 30 members.

The chamber would be divided between directly-elected members representing constituencies and members allocated seats under a system of proportional representation.

The White Paper sets out in general terms how much power should be transferred from London. This will be "agreed" between Whitehall and the North West after a yes vote.

Mr Prescott's plans say any future Assembly will take decisions on around £2.1bn out of the near-£19bn spending currently handled by Whitehall, excluding social security payments. It will control the North West Development Agency. It will also "advise" the Government on where transport cash should be spent.

One of its key roles will be in planning, where it will take on the role of planning authority for the region. But the Government will still have the power to overrule its decisions.

Any Assembly will also fund tourism and the arts, though this will have to fit into "national priorities", the White Paper states. It will have overall control of waste management.