MPs support greater powers and funding for councils

The Local Government Association is urging the government to use the Queen’s Speech to bring forward ‘turbo-charged’ proposals for devolution across the country.

Exclusive polling for the Local Government Association by Savanta ComRes shows that 58 per cent of MPs and 80 per cent of peers agree that councils should be given greater powers and funding to drive employment and training schemes in their areas.

As many as 80 per cent of MPs say councils should have more financial freedoms and powers to build homes in their area and almost three quarters (72 per cent) say they should have more control over local taxes.

The LGA has stressed that it is councils who know their local areas best and must be central to efforts to level up the stark inequalities that have been exposed by the pandemic. One of the main lessons from the coronavirus crisis is that a centralised design and control of public services from Whitehall does not work as well as an approach that enables councils to innovate and create new services locally.

Councillors point to research showing that council maintained schools deliver better results for our children, council-run public health services are improving the health of our nation and where councils can influence the local skills agenda, businesses can grow to play a major economic role in the nation’s future prosperity.

The LGA is calling for the government to end the emphasis on devolution deals designed by Whitehall and instead ensure that all councils can support new infrastructure investment, build more homes, join up public services and provide greater access to jobs and prosperity.

This needs to be underpinned by ensuring that: devolution deals are locally led: there should be no one-size-fits all approach on governance, no standardised deals crafted in Whitehall and those areas able go furthest, fastest should be able to do so; devolution deals leave nothing off the table: councils should be given access to the widest possible set of powers including fiscal devolution, such as the local assignment of taxes, and the ability to ‘defragment’ national agencies at a local level to tackle issues such as skills and unemployment; and that devolution is backed by adequate resources: any newly devolved powers and responsibilities must be fully funded and sit alongside a long-term sustainable funding settlement for local government.  

James Jamieson, chairman of the LGA, said: “The pandemic has shown that, with the right funding and freedoms, councils can improve people’s lives and ensure the successful delivery of those priorities that are shared by national and local government. Bringing power and resources closer to all of us is the key for all our communities to thrive.

“Different areas of the country will need their own unique response in the coming months and years. The Queen’s Speech need to empower councils to be able play a central role in levelling up the stark inequalities the pandemic has exposed, develop a green recovery, address skills gaps and level up the economy so that it benefits everyone.”