The unelected quango responsible for drawing up Oxfordshire's housebuilding targets has seen its running costs rise six-fold in the past five years.

Figures released by the Government show the South East of England Regional Assembly - which is chaired by Oxfordshire County Council leader Keith Mitchell - swallowed £3.2m of public money last year.

That is six times more than its 2001-2 running costs of £500,000 - and means taxpayers in the South East are forking out nearly £9,000 a day to run it.

Seera represents eight million people from Oxfordshire, Hampshire, East and West Sussex, Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Kent and Surrey.

Mr Mitchell is a reluctant chairman. Last year, he led a revolt to get the quango dissolved, after it emerged there was no referendum to validate its existence. His move failed.

In an interview with the Oxford Mail last year he said: "I'm going to be Mr South East for the next few years, making sure the environment is maintained and doesn't suffer from over-development and addressing the issue of housing.

"My party would abolish regional government. Clearly, we are not in a position to do that, so while it's here, we would be fools not to be inside it."

In August 2004, on becoming the quango's planning committee chairman, he said: "Seera remains an unelected body that takes crucial decisions - this is a situation with which I am very uncomfortable."

Nationally, the administrative cost of regional assemblies has risen from £5m to £17.9m in the same period.

Seera wants Oxfordshire to provide 47,000 new homes over the next 20 years to tackle the region's acute housing shortage.

Two thirds of its members are elected councillors nominated by the region's local authorities - but none are directly elected to the assembly.

Tory MP Grant Shapps has tabled a series of questions about quango funding, describing the assemblies as "unwanted, un- elected and unaccountable".

Mr Mitchell defended the assembly's budget as "lean".

He said: "This year alone, we have brought £0.5bn of transport and housing investment into the region, yet the assembly only costs 50p per person per year.

"This is a new model of regional working - streamlined, efficient and with a lean budget."