EMPLOYMENT and housing in East Lancashire were two areas highlighted by Pendle Council leader Azhar Ali as he took up his role as the first British Asian to be appointed chairman of a UK regional assembly.

Coun Ali will play a leading role in the North West Regional Assembly (NWRA), driving forward the agenda in the North West following the recent publication of the regional government White Paper.

With further announcements expected soon about how a referendum will be triggered in a region, the North West will be pushing to be among the first to establish a directly-elected regional assembly.

The NWRA want to draw away powers from London and take decisions which better reflect the needs and aspirations of people in the North West.

Coun Ali said: "This will be an exciting year for regional government in the North West.

"I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to help drive forward the unprecedented opportunity the Government's White Paper gives us to empower business and communities in the region.

"The Government recognise that the one-size-fits-all 'Whitehall knows best' days are over and that people in the North West should be able to participate locally in the big decisions which affect their day to day lives to a much greater extent than ever before.

"Only recently in Pendle we missed out on major European funding and I cannot help but think that we would have been more successful had the bid been prepared in the North West by people who know at first hand the area I represent, and its social and economic problems, rather than a civil servant in London.

"They are providing the framework and finance to empower the regions.

"I will be doing everything I can to let people know about this chance and push for a devolved assembly for the North West at the first opportunity."

Coun Ali told the North West Annual Conference that given the problems facing East Lancashire, it was becoming increasingly prepared for devolution.

He went on: "The people that I and my colleagues from the other six East Lancashire authorities represent are beginning to look first of all to regional government as a means of protecting and developing East Lancashire interests.

"Given the body blows the area's economy has suffered recently, those interests certainly need protecting."

Coun Ali said that the region had shed more than 2,000 job losses during the past two years.

The companies affected included including Michelin in Burnley, Leoni in Accrington, TRW in Burnley, Rolls-Royce at Barnoldswick and at British Aerospace. These losses meant that manufacturing investment -- more than a quarter below the national average between 1993 and 1997 -- was now at a very low ebb.

He referred to East Lancashire's reliance on low skill labour intensive sectors and the way it exacerbated poor manufacturing performance.

And he pointed out that while overall house prices in Manchester rose in excess of 35 per cent between 1999 and 2002, prices in East Lancashire achieved less than a 15 per cent increase.