Protecting the public realm without shutting it down
As Martyn's Law approaches, this free special report from LocalGov and Hill & Smith sets out how councils can protect public spaces without shutting them down.
Mayors handed power to introduce overnight visitor levy
10/09/2026 Mayors and local leaders across England will be given the power to introduce an overnight visitor levy as part of the Government's fiscal devolution drive. |
Healey: Fiscal devolution needed for successful cities
08/09/2026 Fiscal devolution is needed to ‘transfer power and resources from Whitehall to our regions’, chancellor John Healey has insisted. |
Breaking down England's fiscal devolution plans
04/08/2026 David Phillips of the IFS tells LocalGov why England's regional finance reforms are modest by global comparison and what ministers still need to get right. |
New devo powers risk widening regional divide, report warns
04/08/2026 New fiscal powers allowing strategic authorities to retain income tax and business rates could deepen regional inequalities, a new report has warned. |
PM hands mayors share of income tax
31/07/2026 English mayors are to receive a share of income tax revenues and business rates as part of ‘a new era of devolution’, PM Andy Burnham has announced. |
Reed acknowledges fair funding 'dramatic shifts' in councils' finances
15/07/2026 Local government secretary Steve Reed has conceded ‘dramatic shifts' in councils' finances resulting from the fair funding review should have been avoided. |
Call for new fiscal devolution framework for councils
14/07/2026 A major APPG report has called for a new fiscal devolution framework that balances local shares of national taxes with strong equalisation safeguards. |
Fiscal Devolution – has stuff just got real?
25/06/2026 As Andy Burnham prepares to enter Downing Street, Localis' Jonathan Werran asks whether his premiership will unlock tax-raising powers for local government. |
'Fiscal devolution to be more likely with Burnham as PM'
24/06/2026 Fiscal devolution will ‘likely become more important' with Andy Burnham as Prime Minister, experts have predicted. |
Bill 'first step' in fiscal devolution era
13/05/2026 The Overnight Visitor Levy Bill is the ‘first step in a new era of fiscal devolution in England', the Government has said. |
MPs launch fiscal devolution inquiry
22/04/2026 The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Local Government has announced an inquiry into fiscal devolution in England. |
Chancellor to give local leaders control over national taxes
18/03/2026 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has promised to give ‘local leaders' control of some national taxes in a ‘permanent transfer of power and resources' to regions. |
Treasury control over transport is stalling regional growth, IPPR warns
18/02/2026 Centralised Treasury control over transport spending is constraining regional growth, according to new research from the Institute for Public Policy Research. |
Reed lobbies Treasury over fiscal devolution
13/11/2025 Local government secretary Steve Reed has made the case to the Treasury for devolving fiscal powers ahead of the Budget. |
Fiscal devolution could raise £8.9bn a year
16/07/2025 Fiscal devolution would enable local authorities to raise £8.9bn a year for local services, a report commissioned by the County Councils Network has found. |
Fresh calls for fiscal devo
04/07/2024 Backers of fiscal devolution have urged the government elected today to reconsider the policy despite their lobbying failing to get it mentioned in the manifestos. |
Government ignores sugar levy calls
12/04/2024 The Government has ignored Local Government Association (LGA) calls for the sugar levy to be spent by councils to tackle physical inactivity. |
Land value tax could redistribute billions
09/11/2023 A plan to reform business rates could lead to billions of pounds being redistributed from high land value areas to other parts of the country. |
Call for local income tax collection for biggest city regions
08/11/2023 More taxation powers, including the ability to keep a proportion of income tax, should be devolved to England’s three biggest city regions, a think-tank has argued. |
Labour regeneration plans will fail 'without radical action'
31/10/2023 An incoming Labour government’s regeneration plans will fail without radical action to devolve financial decision-making, researchers have warned. |
London Councils eyes apprenticeship levy devolution
09/10/2023 London Councils has named securing devolution of the apprenticeship levy to its boroughs to fund skills and employment activity as a key short-term priority. |
South East Councils to consider devolution of vehicle excise duty
01/09/2023 The devolution of vehicle excise duty (VED) will be among the options expected to be considered by a London Finance Commission-style investigation. |
'No progress' on devolution to London
21/06/2023 The capital appears to have ‘taken a step backwards’ on devolution, a former chair of London Councils has said. |
Progress on devolution 'too slow' - LGA vice-president
16/06/2023 A Local Government Association vice-president has expressed ‘serious concerns about the Government’s increasing desire to centralise local service delivery across England out of Whitehall’. |
Northern Powerhouse group calls for ‘proper fiscal devolution’
20/03/2023 New council tax ‘super bands’ covering the most valuable properties and the devolution of stamp duty will help local leaders retain local cash, report says. |
Starmer makes devolution bill pledge
05/01/2023 A swathe of new powers would be devolved from central Government under a Labour administration, leader Sir Kier Starmer has promised in a key speech. |
Cornwall £360m devolution deal unveiled
02/12/2022 A £360m devolution deal on offer to Cornwall has been unveiled today. |
Unleash wave of mayoral devo, says think tank
20/06/2022 A report from the centre right Onward think tank has urged the Government to step back from ‘micromanaging’ England’s cities and counties and unleash a wave of mayoral devolution. |
South East needs 'unified' approach to create a devolution framework
22/03/2022 Government must rethink the assumption that directing investment away from an ‘overheated’ South East will ‘cool’ the region and ‘heat’ the rest of the country, a report has warned today. |
MPs call for urgent council finance reforms
19/07/2021 Councils should be given more flexibility to raise their own taxes and social care funding urgently needs to be reformed, MPs have said. |
Reed accuses government of dropping devolution
07/07/2021 Shadow communities secretary Steve Reed has accused the Government of dropping its commitment to devolution. |
Tear down devolution 'barriers,' APPG urges
09/03/2021 Powers should be devolved to councils before reorganisation takes place, a new report has concluded. |
Scottish councils release blueprint for change
07/09/2020 A local government blueprint laying out the changes required to unlock councils’ full potential has been published by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) today. |
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Better response to pandemic from European councils, says think-tank
16/07/2020 Local government across Europe has been able to react to the coronavirus crisis with greater power and autonomy than in the UK, a report published today has found. |
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Councils need billions more in funding, research finds
10/11/2019 Councils will need billions of extra pounds worth of funding in the next parliament, if they are to meet the rising cost of adult social care, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has calculated. |
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Council tax system needs 'fundamental reform'
16/05/2019 The council tax system is ‘highly regressive and unsustainable,’ and needs ‘fundamental reform,’ progressive think-tank IPPR has argued. |
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Think tank suggests introduction of local income tax
21/03/2019 Local income tax would be the best option for fiscal devolution if the Government wanted to hand more powers to local authorities, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) argued today. |
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Councillors silenced on secret fiscal devolution report
31/10/2018 Senior councillors have been warned not to talk about a secret Local Government Association (LGA) report that models what fiscal devolution might look like, The MJ has been told. |
