Let councils raise taxes

Central government has consistently cut council budgets over the past decades. At the same time, as the cost of living crisis continues, demands for local government services have been rising.

The latest research by the BBC finds that across the country local councils face a £5bn black hole. 

This is hard to fill because central government stops local councils from raising council tax by more than a few percentage points each year. 

Under the current system the only way round this is for councils to cut services – closing libraries, leisure centres and by putting up prices of parking and the like. 

This is all a result of central government policy. Local councils have little choice.

The solution is for central government to give up its control of local councils and services as Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Leader discussed with us in a recent interview.

Local councils should be able to raise taxes for local services as they see fit, offering a shopping list of services and their costs. Local voters can then decide at the ballot box what they want and if they want to pay the costs.

Find out more in our report on Decentralisation: https://bit.ly/3XRrXfW