At Cipfa we welcome George Osborne’s decision to let councils preserve £26bn raised from trade rates,but worry some areas will be left to failThe announcement made by the chancellor that 100% of trade rates will be retained by local authorities will be welcomed by many in the local government sector. However, as is often the case with high profile political announcements, and the devil will be in the detail. Central government kept the full amount of trade rates collected by councils until the system was reformed in April 2013 and it was then split 50/50 between central and local government. Yesterday’s announcement reflects a greater devolved finance system in keeping with the functional devolution models we own seen recently in areas such as Manchester and Cornwall. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com