Local government finance

You can’t level up from Whitehall

This article originally appeared in the Municipal Journal.

The Levelling up White Paper was finally published last week. But despite 332 pages of what was a rather chaotic document (part text book, part policy, part analysis), when it comes to levelling up, it’s clear that Westminster think they are in charge.

The centrepiece of the White Paper were the 12 eye catching ‘missions’, many of which have been branded unrealistic by commentators. However, if they are to have any chance of meeting just a few of them, they will need local government on their side. A cursory glance down the list of missions and indicators shows that against nearly every goal, local government has a role to play.

Raising Council Tax won’t fix local government

This article originally appeared in Tribune.

A decade of austerity has decimated local authority funding and left many councils in crisis – but hiking regressive Council Tax isn’t a real solution. Ahead of the today’s budget statement, CLES’s Rachel Bentley and Victoria Bettany have written for Tribune explaining why.

This week’s Budget will be make or break for councils across the UK. It’s set to be a true test of whether the government really cares about the poorest in our society, or whether it’s content to continue passing off responsibility entirely to local authorities, whose capacity to help has been diminished by a decade of austerity.