Fiscal Reform

London Councils urges the government to use the Spending Review to put local government finance on a long term sustainable footing.

Not only does this mean appropriate levels of funding, it means taking a longer term consideration of the appropriateness of council tax and business rates as the primary funding mechanisms for local government.

We believe local government can deliver much more if central government devolves more powers and resources to it. We support the recommendations of the London Finance Commission 2017, which advocated devolution of a range of property and other taxes to London Government, and are equally applicable to other cities and city regions.

This year’s London business rates retention pilot has shown that London Government is capable of working together to take collective decisions about the distribution and investment of business rates income, delivering over £800 million of additional strategic investment in growth projects that will benefit Londoners for years to come that would not have happened otherwise.

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