England’s eight largest cities will tonight launch a major campaign demanding more financial freedoms for the country’s key urban areas.
The Core Cities – consisting of Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield – claim stronger powers over locally generated money would help them add £222bn to the UK economy by 2030.
Aiming to demonstrate how residents would benefit from greater devolution to the Core Cities, the Local Voices campaign will add to mounting calls for more metropolitan freedom.
According to the group, some 1.3million jobs could be created over the next sixteen years if cities were allowed to decide how to spend cash such as property taxes.
Speaking ahead of the campaign’s launch, Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council and Core Cities Cabinet chair, said the national economy needed cities to succeed ‘like never before’ yet to do so meant ‘going further and faster in devolving resources from the centre’.
Cllr Jon Collins, Nottingham City Council leader and Core Cities Cabinet member for business, growth, trade and investment said: ‘We can’t deliver on jobs, growth and financial self-sufficiency with our hands tied behind our backs by Whitehall.
‘Our overly centralised system is no longer fit for purpose, and though growth deals are a step forward, the current annual negotiation process won’t solve the problem.
‘The Core Cities want to see a better balance of funding for the regions so we can effectively meet the needs in our cities,’ Collins added.
Earlier this month, MPs in the communities and local government select committee urged ministers to grant city-regions control over business rates, stamp duty and council tax.
