Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive at the LGiU said:
“We hope that the Chancellor will use his Autumn Spending Review as an opportunity to give Local Authorities the power to build services fit for the future.
Councils tell us in our annual members survey that they want the ability to raise local taxes, such as tourism or environmental taxes, to borrow more easily and to have control over all local public spending.
And, while the Chancellor deserves credit for moving further and faster towards localism than any British politician of modern times, we have to remember that we’ve started from one of the most absurdly centralised positions in the world. This is fine as long as we see this as the first step in the process.
There’s real opportunity for this to be the start of a truly collective process where local areas come up with increasingly sophisticated and credible plans for how to drive growth, improve public services and engage their communities. There’s genuine potential to redraw the political map and to align it with local economic geographies.”
Further analysis available here.
ENDS
Notes to editors
The Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) is a think tank and membership body with over 200 councils and other organisations subscribing to our networks. We work to strengthen local democracy and put citizens in control of their own lives, communities and local services. For more information, visit lgiu.org.
Our Devolution Road Map outlines proposals to invert the current relationship between central and local government by creating a locally led process of devolution in England, which would strengthen local economies and improve public services.
