IPPR North gives guarded welcome to councils keeping some of their business rates

Ed Cox continues:

'However, allowing councils to retain the money they collect from the growth of business rates falls short of complete autonomy.

'We are also need assurances on the detail of how councils in poorer areas will be protected. Many local authorities, particularly in the North, do not have a large business sector so they could lose out - and the government's record in this area has been undermined by the local government settlement which benefitted richer local authorities in the South over poorer ones in the North.

'We also need to know what the implications will be for super-rich councils, like Westminster, which collect large sums in business rates. Under this scheme, they might be able to set the council tax at zero - good for their residents perhaps, but unfair on others in more deprived parts of the country.

'The Deputy Prime Minister has laid out some interesting ideas today, but we need to see how they relate to the Local Government Resources Review. Hopefully, the review will develop this agenda of giving councils more control over local taxation.'

Notes to editors

1. IPPR North Director Ed Cox is available for interview at the Local Government Association Conference - contact Tamsin Crimmens on 07800 742 262
2. IPPR is holding a fringe event at the LGA conference in Birmingham. Making Localism Pay: The politics of local government finance reform, Wednesday 29 June 2011, 6.45pm, Hall 7, ICC, Birmingham
3. Download IPPR North's briefing Five Foundations of Real Localism
4. Read IPPR's blog It's time to wake up to the local government resource review

Contact

Tamsin Crimmens, IPPR North Media Officer: 07800 742 262

Tim Finch, IPPR Director of Communications: 07595 920 899