Future Local Lab
Local Government ExplainedNo government can deliver long-term growth without ambitious fiscal devolution
This report is the outcome of a major inquiry on fiscal devolution run by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Local Government. It sets out a series of pragmatic, achievable steps to deliver an ambitious fiscal devolution programme within a relatively short time frame.
The APPG on Local Government inquiry into fiscal devolution consulted local government, academia and other sector experts. Its focus was on how greater local control over taxation and revenue could drive economic growth, improve public services, strengthen accountability, and enable the long-term financial sustainability of councils and combined authorities.
Exploring how a more devolved fiscal system could equip local leaders with the powers and incentives needed to respond effectively to local challenges and opportunities, the APPG considered practical reform options, including the assignment or devolution of existing taxes.
The report sets out how a new way of governing from ‘outside’ of Westminster can be achieved and calls on the incoming government to facilitate that change with a renewed emphasis on the following:
- Delivering a new settlement for England that gives places meaningful control over public finances.
- Matching fiscal devolution with the responsibility for delivering public services and growing local economies.
- Building a fiscal settlement for England based on fairness, stability and accountability.
- Modernise England’s outdated and fragmented system of local taxation.
- Publish a long-term roadmap that gives every part of England a route into fiscal devolution.
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