Some 39% of people living in England think councils should granted more powers, a report suggests.
According to a survey undertaken by think tank IPPR North, support for greater powers being handed to town halls is particularly strong in the North East and North West of England.
Only 14% of respondents thought councils should have some of their influence taken away.
Findings suggest overall trust in politicians among participants is incredibly low, with just 14% thinking politicians normally tell the truth.
Councillors are the most trusted of all types of politician, with 28% of people thinking they tell the truth most of the time. This figure falls to less than a quarter for MPs and 15% for government ministers.
Trust in local councils is almost twice as high as trust in Parliament, the think tank found.
Places where powers are clear and territorially defined - such as London - have a greater sense of local authority effectiveness. The report says devolution must now ‘go further’, with city-regions outside of London given more powers over public spending.
‘Local identities are important,’ said director of IPPR North, Ed Cox. ‘People feel more able to influence decision-making locally than they do at the national level and so giving more powers to local areas would appear to be an important way in which people can reinvigorate local democracy.’
Responding to the report, director of Solace, Graeme McDonald, said: ‘Central government must now wake up to the fact that citizens want to see local authorities in the driving seat. Councils have the trust of their local population, as well as the desires and capabilities to pursue locally led schemes.’
