Agenda item

Darra Singh, Chair of the Commission, will be present at the Board meeting.

Darra Singh (Chair of the Independent Commission on Local Government Finance) provided a verbal update on: the role, remit and approach of the Commission; the work it had undertaken; the feedback it had received thus far; and the timescale for reporting its findings.  In doing so, he paid particular attention to the range of views that had been received in the feedback to the consultation and welcomed Members’ input. 

There followed a detailed discussion in which Members raised a number of issues which they felt a new local government finance system needed to address and discussed potential reforms which the Commission might wish to consider further.  Comments included: 

·        The Board highlighted the unique opportunity the national debate on the Scottish Referendum presented to make an ambitious and compelling case for greater financial and decision-making freedoms for English and Welsh localities. 

·        There was unified support for adopting an asymmetric approach to devolution that allow for differential devolution.  In doing so, Members emphasised the importance of ensuring that all areas have access to the same tools and opportunities, and cautioned against a ‘one model fits all’ approach. 

·        Members emphasised the appetite and ambition of the sector for sustainable financial independence and discussed the importance of ensuring the Commission’s findings gain traction, both within the sector as well as beyond.  Particular reference was made to the importance of meaningful partner engagement in the consultation process and the steps being taken to deliver this.  

·        Members asked that the themed engagement workshops be open for Resources Board Members to attend.  

·        Suggestions for the Commission’s consideration included: devolving greater freedoms to councils to set rules, regulations and revenue raising powers at a local level; improving incentivisation and providing the flexibility to apply incentives differently according to local circumstances; supporting long term financial planning through less frequent business rates revaluation; developing a sophisticated means of managing the transfer of risk from central government to local authorities; assessing authorities’ financial sustainability in terms income and pension liabilities in addition to budget; and safeguarding against the transfer of revenue raising services to central government.

Decision

That the Board’s comments feed into the Independent Commission on Local Government Finance’s review.