Council directors have urged chancellor George Osborne to devolve greater fiscal powers and freedoms to local authorities in next week's Budget.
In its submission to the Treasury, the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) called on Osborne to provide longer term funding certainty for councils in his speech next Wednesday.
The submission said town halls should be offered 'more flexible ways to borrow money' and called for establishment of a Municipal Bonds Agency for councils to fund major infrastructure projects.
ADEPT put pressure on Osborne to remove limitations around some ring-fenced funds and enable leaders and business to benefit more from the single local growth fund.
Directors revealed they also wanted to see a 'commitment to tackle the flaws in the local government funding system which mean that upper tier authorities in fast growing areas are financially worse off because of growth and to help address opposition that this creates from the public to new development'.
The submission pushed for accelerated release of the £250m earmarked for superfast broadband.
It also called for 'bold measures and new financial incentives, which encourage all local authorities to reinvest funding raised through mechanisms such as New Homes Bonus and Businesses Rates retention into long-term capital programmes to stimulate growth'.
