The Government should press ahead with further devolution in England and examine the case for devolving greater powers over services, including health, housing, planning and education, MPs have said.
‘Progress on devolution in England’, a report from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, calls on devolution to be extended not only to combined authorities, but also local government more widely, and to both rural and urban areas.
It recommends the Government bring forward a devolution framework that emphasises that devolution should be the default option, and that financial devolution is necessary to ensure the success of devolution.
To help boost the financial resilience of councils and reduce the reliance on council tax and business rates, the report recommends that the Government explores alternative revenue-raising options for councils.
It also urges the Government to accelerate proposals for how the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will work.
Cllr James Jamieson, LGA Chairman, said that the forthcoming levelling up white paper “provides a real opportunity to turbo-charge the devolution agenda”.
He added: “As we focus on the task of national recovery, now is the right time to strengthen this partnership and bring forward an ambitious new devolution settlement that gives councils the powers and funding they need to address regional inequality, tackle local pockets of deprivation, and make towns and communities across England attractive places to live, work and visit.”