Referendums on council tax limits should be abolished in order to secure the financial sustainability of councils, Lord Porter will argue later today.
In a keynote speech, Lord Porter, chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA), will warn that 75p in every £1 of core government funding to councils will be cut by 2020.
He will also highlight that by 2020, nearly half of all councils will no longer receive any core central government funding.
As well as scrapping the need to hold a referendum on raising council tax above the threshold, Lord Porter will also argue councils should be allowed to retain all business rates.
Lord Porter will say: Lord Porter will say today: 'Councils can no longer be expected to run our vital local services on a shoestring. We must shout from the roof tops for local government to be put back on a sustainable financial footing.
'Every penny in local taxation collected locally must be kept by local government and spent on our public services. The cap on council tax also needs to be lifted to ensure new money can be raised locally and spent locally.
'Local government is the fabric of our country, even more so during this period of uncertainty for the nation. Councils are the ones who can be trusted to make a difference to people’s lives. To build desperately-needed homes, create jobs and school places, provide the dignified care for our elderly and disabled and boost economic growth.'
