Breaking down England's fiscal devolution plans
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.
Defence firms could reindustrialise the North East, think tank claims
17/08/2026 Use the defence sector to drive local regeneration and reindustrialise the North East of England, a free market think tank says. |
Think tank warns of growing child poverty crisis
27/07/2026 Three and a half million children across England are facing relative poverty, research has found. |
Think tank urges Burnham to learn from past growth policy
22/07/2026 A new report from Localis is urging incoming PM Andy Burnham to draw on lessons from decades of local growth policy as he pursues ‘Manchesterism’. |
EPI urges SEND workforce investment to combat inequality
14/07/2026 A think tank has called for greater investment in the workforce supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). |
Homelessness set to rise 25% by 2030, report warns Burnham
13/07/2026 A new report has warned prime-minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham that homelessness is set to rise by a quarter, pushing councils ‘closer to bankruptcy’. |
‘Stark local gaps’ in childcare provision revealed
03/07/2026 Just 34% of councils have sufficient childcare places to support full-time working parents, research has found. |
Experts' 'concern' over LGR decision-making
02/03/2026 Experts have raised concerns as ministers are set to make final decisions on proposals for local government reorganisation. |
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. |
Call for sustainable funding to support SEND spending
12/02/2026 Council spending on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has surged by more than £5bn in real terms over six years. |
Call to bolster powers of strategic authorities
30/01/2026 Strategic authorities require more freedoms and capacity to drive growth and reform, a think-tank has urged. |
Eleven cities lead in living standards growth, research finds
27/01/2026 Eleven UK cities have been identified as top performers in the improvement of living standards and disposable income growth. |
EXCLUSIVE: Councils to push against statistics rowback
16/12/2025 Councils are preparing to push back after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed it was looking to slim down its sub-national statistics portfolio. |
Top table call for IT leads
02/12/2025 Council IT leads need a ‘seat at the top table’ to ensure local government reorganisation is not derailed, a think-tank has warned. |
Reeves urged to raise higher council tax bands
14/11/2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves should raise rates on higher council tax bands to raise just under £4bn in her Budget later this month, a think-tank has said. |
Metro mayors urged to discourage city car trips
04/11/2025 A think tank has recommended that metro mayors encourage a shift from cars to public transport by making car use less attractive for journeys to city centres. |
Scrapping two-child limit could lift 330,000 children out of poverty, report finds
30/10/2025 The Government could reduce the number of children growing up in poverty by an estimated 330,000 if it scrapped the two-child limit, according to think tank. |
Call for ‘major’ shift to national assessment system for social care
07/10/2025 Moving to a national assessment system for social care could offer consistency and efficiency benefits, a study suggests. |
Counties' concern over devolution proposals
25/09/2025 County councils have hit out at proposals to give mayors control over services like health and criminal justice – warning against a return to two-tier governance. |
Call to abolish Homes England
01/09/2025 A think-tank has called for the abolition of Homes England. |
Think tank reports rise in ‘economically inactive' young people
26/08/2025 The number of those aged 16 to 24 and not in education, employment or training has risen to almost one million, a think tank has revealed. |
Call for one hundred thousand high-quality council homes
14/08/2025 Council housing stock in the UK must be ‘replenished’ and improved in design, a think tank has argued. |
Call for visitor levies to combat austerity’s effects
06/08/2025 The introduction of a tourist tax would help reverse austerity’s ‘heavy toll’ on councils, the Autonomy Institute think tank says. |
Think-tank calls for Glasgow mayor
16/06/2025 Glasgow is at risk of falling behind England’s cities unless it receives a devolution deal and a directly elected city region mayor, Centre for Cities warns. |
Call for action on economic inequalities
07/04/2025 The Government has been urged to back mayors and shift spending priorities to tackle regional inequality by an influential think-tank. |
School absences up two-thirds since before pandemic
18/03/2025 Absences and suspensions from school are two-thirds higher than before the pandemic, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). |
Rooftop solar panels could cut energy bills by a quarter, report finds
12/02/2025 Rooftop solar panels could cut poorer households’ energy bills by almost a quarter, new research has found. |
Lack of clarity on reform ‘risks misleading councils’
09/12/2024 A leading financial think-tank has warned that the Government risks ‘misleading’ local authorities if it does not provide more clarity on its plans to reform funding. |
Call for ‘courage’ to fix council finances
21/11/2024 A think-tank has urged the Government to show ‘political courage’ in reforming the local government finance system in next spring’s comprehensive spending review. |
Sure Start Centres reduced criminal offending, says IFS
23/10/2024 Young people who had lived near a Sure Start centre between the age of 0 to 4-years-old were 20% less likely to have a custodial sentence, think-tank finds. |
Mayors can relieve council pressures, says report
09/10/2024 Mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) can help with long-standing policy challenges in public services as well as boosting economic growth, a think-tank has argued. |
Localis: Counterproductive ‘tax landscape’ threatens pubs
23/09/2024 A think tank has warned that a ‘counterproductive regulatory and tax landscape’ threatens the future of local pubs. |
Think tank calls for health and prosperity improvement zones
17/09/2024 Local authorities should be empowered to create health and prosperity improvement zones modelled on clean air zones, a cross-party commission says. |
Think-tank calls for £6bn devolution to tackle economic inactivity
02/09/2024 A think-tank has argued that the Government should transfer £6bn to local government in a bid to tackle economic inactivity. |
Abolish grant support for five local authorities to raise £600m, think-tank suggests
19/08/2024 The Government should ‘reduce or eliminate all support' for a number of local authorities where council tax is low, a centre-right think-tank report has suggested. |
NextGov: Devolutionary road
24/06/2024 Jonathan Werran, the chief executive of think-tank Localis, discusses what the next government should do to extend devolution. |
Think-tank calls for regeneration funding overhaul
07/05/2024 Councils should be able to hold a regeneration account to more efficiently allocate capital for regeneration projects, a think-tank has argued. |
Call for council tax overhaul
26/01/2024 Work should begin now on the ‘long-overdue’ revaluation of all domestic properties in England to bolster local government finance, a think-tank has argued. |
The new Centre for Young Lives
22/01/2024 Anne Longfield CBE, the chair of the Commission on Young Lives, discusses the launch of the Centre for Young Lives this month. |
Million more public transport commuters needed, think-tank says
29/11/2023 The largest cities in Britain should aim to boost the number of public transport commuters by nearly one million to reduce congestion and pollution, a think-tank has said. |
London faces ‘chronic’ street clutter issue
18/10/2023 Central London has a ‘chronic’ issue with street clutter such as disused phone boxes and discarded e-bikes, a think tank has warned. |
Childcare expansion has ‘little to offer’ poorest families
26/09/2023 The free childcare expansion continues a trend of prioritising support for working parents rather than helping low-income families, financial experts warn. |
Optimism about Greater Manchester’s economy ‘badly misplaced’
21/09/2023 Greater Manchester should expand its city centre, improve connectivity, and build 126,000 more homes to boost its productivity, the Resolution Foundation says. |
Calls to scrap council tax hike as consultation closes
20/09/2023 Councils should have complete control over their local tax, thinktank Reform Scotland has said in response to plans to increase council tax across Scotland. |
Level up seaside towns or lose power, Conservatives told
19/09/2023 The Conservative Government must level up England’s struggling coastal communities or risk losing 113 seaside seats to Labour, a conservative think tank warns. |
Calls for affordable homes funding in holiday hotspots
29/08/2023 Councils need long-term funding and more planning powers to build affordable homes for local people being priced out of tourist areas, Localis has said. |
Council tax rises to 10% of income in some areas
16/08/2023 The council tax burden in some parts of the country has increased to over 10% of the average income, new research from the Taxpayers’ Alliance has revealed. |
Approach to accommodating Afghan families ‘unacceptable’
15/08/2023 The approach to finding accommodation for Afghan families has been ‘unacceptable’ and represents a failure to ‘live up to Britain's values’, says think tank. |
Newly listed properties unaffordable to benefit recipients
27/06/2023 The proportion of newly listed private rental properties on Zoopla affordable to recipients of housing support has dropped from 23% to 5%, according to IFS. |
Think tank calls for expansion of ‘selective licencing’
24/05/2023 London councils are being prevented from adopting schemes to improve conditions for people in private rented accommodation by regulations, researchers say. |
North misses out on £21m of levelling up funding
23/05/2023 Local authority areas in the North have missed out on £21m of funding from the Government’s flagship levelling up fund, a new study has revealed. |
‘Red Wall’ areas score poorly on social fabric index
02/05/2023 Local communities in areas won by the Conservatives from Labour in 2019 have continued to face decline despite the levelling up agenda, think tank finds. |
Main cogs of council finance ‘out of synch’, think tank says
02/03/2023 The ‘principal cogs of local government finance’ are out of synch, a leading think tank has warned. |
Planning reforms needed to boost housing supply
23/02/2023 The primary driver of low housing supply has been the planning system and uncertainty about the amount of land available for development, think tank says. |
‘Inefficient’ planning costs UK millions of houses
22/02/2023 The UK is missing over four million homes due to its ‘inefficient’ and ‘outdated’ planning laws, a think tank has calculated. |
New blueprint to deliver affordable homes to 1.2m households
20/02/2023 A new blueprint designed to deliver affordable homes to over a million households who are currently stuck on council waiting lists has been published. |
‘Hidden’ unemployment rates reveal deepening divides
31/01/2023 Nine out of 10 of the UK’s cities and towns with the highest hidden unemployment rates are in the North, new study reveals. |
Think-tank calls for Local Resilience Act
10/11/2022 A Local Resilience Act is needed to mitigate the impact of climate change and extreme weather conditions, think-tank has urged. |
High mortgage rates threaten 400,000 people with poverty
04/11/2022 An additional 400,000 people are set to be pulled into poverty by high mortgage rates, a think tank has warned. |
Chancellor warned local services ‘on a cliff-edge’
01/11/2022 Local authority leaders have urged the PM ahead of the upcoming autumn statement to ensure that councils have the funding necessary to protect services. |
Toolkit to level up high street published
27/09/2022 Local authorities will have to prove ‘adept’ in making use of the tools and resources at their disposal if high streets are going to survive, think tank says. |
Local government ‘over-centralised’, think tanks say
02/09/2022 Local government is over-centralised, inefficient, and under-resourced and is harming the UK economy, a new report says. |
Outer London left behind in post-COVID recovery
13/06/2022 Ethnically diverse local authority areas on the outskirts of London are being left behind in the post-pandemic recovery, think tank warns. |
Slash ‘red tape’ to reduce childcare costs, think tank says
16/05/2022 Government should reduce the amount of regulation governing childcare in order to reduce the economic impact of high childcare costs, think tank says. |
Council staff on £100,000 increased during pandemic
06/04/2022 Senior pay is decided in a ‘transparent way’, council chiefs say in response to report that the number of council staff receiving over £100,000 increased. |
Severe school absence 'spreading like wildfire' report warns
31/01/2022 Thousands more children have become severely absent from school since the pandemic, with nearly 800 schools missing entire classes of children a think tank has warned. |
Calls for radical expansion of parish and town councils
12/11/2021 Parish and town councils should be established in every neighbourhood to help places level up and revive local democracy, a think tank has said today. |
Report calls for communities to be given more power over planning
25/10/2021 Local people should have more decision-making powers over new developments in their neighbourhoods, a report for a think tank has argued. |
Think tank calls for 'fairer' welfare system
20/09/2021 The welfare system should reintroduce a clear link between contribution and reward, according to the results of a three-year research programme. |
Councils ‘resistant’ to repurposing empty commercial space
20/07/2021 A think tank has accused local authorities of being ‘resistant’ to measures that could see empty retail spaces repurposed for housing. |
New index reveals most and least prosperous local authorities
13/05/2021 A new index to track the Government's progress on its 'levelling up' agenda has been launched today by a think tank. |
Report calls for thousands of new green jobs in areas worst hit by pandemic
05/05/2021 More than 16,000 new green jobs could be created in areas with the greatest employment challenges with Government investment and raised ambition, according to new research by a think tank. |
Social care reform depends on market overhaul
15/04/2021 Social care reform will ‘fail’ without addressing weaknesses in the provider market, a think-tank has warned. |
Think tank calls for reform of 'regressive' council tax in Scotland
12/04/2021 Council tax in Scotland should be increased to the same levels as the rest of the UK, a think tank has argued today. |
Public back more city devolution
09/04/2021 More than eight in ten people support more devolution to England’s largest cities, a new poll has revealed. |
Think tank calls for political action on community power
23/02/2021 New legislation should be created to give communities more power over their places and services, a think tank has argued today. |
Think tank calls for collaboration in face of ‘stark’ health inequalities
22/02/2021 A think tank has called on health and care organisations across London to continue working together closely after the pandemic in order to tackle health inequalities across the capital. |
Think tank calls for a ‘street votes’ approach in the suburbs
17/02/2021 Local residents should be given the power to set their own local development rules at a street level, and share the wealth created by new housing, a think tank has proposed today. |
Pandemic pushes 450,000 families into housing debt, says report
16/02/2021 A further 450,000 families have fallen behind on their housing payments due to the impact of the pandemic, a think tank has warned today. |
Think tank's launches levelling up Big Bang theory
15/02/2021 The Government should launch a Northern Big Bang to ‘unleash a torrent of investment into the Northern economy’ says a report from a Conservative think-tank. |
Councils face £1.3bn shortfall on council tax, says IFS
05/02/2021 Councils face a £1.3bn shortfall in the council tax they were expecting for 2020-21, finance think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has calculated. |
Pandemic is 'levelling down' the South, report warns
25/01/2021 The economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic will make it four times harder to level up the North and Midlands, a new study has revealed. |
New proposals to fix Britain's 'fraying social fabric'
12/01/2021 Every local area should be represented by a parish or town council in order to rebuild ‘fraying’ communities after the pandemic, a think tank has argued today. |
Public health cuts biggest in North East
09/12/2020 The Midlands and the North have suffered the biggest public health cuts in England, new analysis has revealed. |
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Think tank calls for £164bn stimulus in spending review
23/11/2020 The UK’s economy needs a £164bn cash injection to restart it fully after the COVID-19 crisis, a think tank has said. |
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Think-tank issues warning on Brexit readiness
03/11/2020 Local authorities and the devolved nations risk being overwhelmed by Brexit as they are trying to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, a think tank has claimed. |
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Government needs a plan to tackle public service backlog, says IfG
02/11/2020 The Government needs a plan to address backlogs in public services caused by the coronavirus crisis, a new report has claimed. |
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Think tank proposes 10-point plan to reform business rates
29/10/2020 The valuation of business rates should be devolved to local government, under proposals published by the Centre for Cities. |
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Think tank calls for a 'family stimulus' boost
28/10/2020 A 'family stimulus' would help support hard-hit families through the pandemic, a new report has said. |
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Streamline local government under plans to save £30bn a year, think tank argues
21/10/2020 Streamlining local government and selling off high-value council properties could save billions every year, according to a think tank. |
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Government 'likely' to miss full fibre broadband 2025 target
07/10/2020 A Government promise to deliver full fibre broadband to every home by 2025 is likely to be missed unless ministers make radical changes to telecoms policy, think tank warns. |
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Levelling up agenda would add £242bn to economy each year, research finds
05/10/2020 Successfully delivering on the levelling agenda would boost the economy by £242bn a year, new research has argued today. |
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Think tank calls for sweeping reforms to local taxes
06/07/2020 A group of former Treasury special advisers have called for revaluation of the council tax and reform of business rates to boost the economy post-COVID-19. |
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Youth unemployment to double this year, warns think tank
03/07/2020 The number of unemployed young people could double this year without government intervention, a think tank has warned today. |
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Housing sector at risk of collapse due to Covid-19, think tank warns
10/06/2020 At least 76,000 homes are at risk of not being built this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a think tank has warned today. |
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Think tank warns of growing educational gap during lockdown
18/05/2020 Children from better-off families are spending more time on educational activities than those from the poorest households, a think tank has found. |
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Debt collection needs reform, says think tank
27/04/2020 Local government should follow the lead of the private sector when it comes to debt collection, the latest report from the Centre for Social Justice think tank has claimed. |
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Think tank argues social care should be 'free at point of use' after Covid-19
22/04/2020 The Government has been urged to use the coronavirus crisis to undertake long term social care reform, in a new report by the Policy Exchange. |
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Think tank calls for benefit cap to be suspended to protect renters
09/04/2020 Social housing tenants are the most likely to be affected by the current economic crisis, a new report has found today. |
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Councils in London urged to increase cost of residential parking permits
18/03/2020 Councils in London are under-charging for residential on-street parking spaces, a think tank has found today. |
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Work alone cannot eliminate poverty, think tank says
04/02/2020 Policy makers need to focus on further interventions to reduce poverty, think tank says as a new report warns that work alone cannot eliminate poverty. |
