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A request for a referendum on more powers for Wales has been made to Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan in a letter by First Minister Carwyn Jones.Both Ms Gillan and the Electoral Commission have expressed doubts about whether this can be achieved.
Legislation needs to be passed by Parliament before the summer recess if an autumn referendum is to proceed.
Ms Gillan's claim that insufficient preparatory work on the poll was done by her predecessor has been denied.
The Electoral Commission say a 10 week period is needed to ensure the referendum question can be easily understood by voters - but that would rule out an autumn poll.
The first minister provided a suggested referendum question to the Welsh Secretary in his letter.
A Wales Office spokesman said: "The Secretary of State received the letter from the first minister this morning.
"She is continuing work to progress a referendum and was already due to meet with the Electoral Commission and host a series of consultation meetings to discuss the referendum in Cardiff on Monday."
Welcoming Carwyn Jones's letter, former Welsh Secretary Peter Hain claimed the work he did while in office is sufficient for the first minister's demands to be met.
Mr Hain said: "The Conservative-Liberal coalition now has a duty to deliver the necessary Parliamentary and UK government agreement on time to keep open the option of calling a referendum this October.
'Back track'
"The preparatory work I ordered to be done as Secretary of State allowed this timetable to be met. Cheryl Gillan has no excuse to back track."
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams said the new Conservative-Liberal Westminster coalition government is committed to holding a referendum to further Welsh devolution and that Welsh Liberal Democrats would be "whole-heartedly" campaigning for a 'Yes' vote.
She said: "What a difference a week makes. Labour and Plaid Cymru seem to have finally stopped stalling, having spent three-and-a-half years kicking this referendum into touch.
"There is cross-party consensus that the referendum should not be held on the same day as the elections to the National Assembly."
Chair of the Plaid Cymru group in the assembly Dr Dai Lloyd said the new Westminster government must refocus on the "legitimate bid" the assembly had unanimously made for a referendum.
He said: "Clearly time is tight with regard to an October referendum, but the fact is that the arrangements are dependant now on what they have been dependant (on) all along. That is the political will to get the job done.
"On accepting the position of Secretary of State for Wales, Cheryl Gillan is the one who has now also accepted the responsibility for ensuring that the democratic will of the National Assembly is respected and that the preferred date of all parties in October remains a possibility."
On his blog, Conservative AM Jonathan Morgan wrote that he favoured an October referendum and believed the Welsh Secretary should do all she can to achieve this, with 1 March 2011 as a second option.
Mr Morgan wrote: "I am sure that the announcement by the first minister that the assembly government favours October as the month for the referendum has nothing to do with the fact that we have a Conservative Secretary of State!
"For months the assembly and UK government have been silent on the timing of the referendum... it begs the question as to what Peter Hain was actually doing before he left office."This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.