Agenda item

Presentation by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

David Phillips from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) provided a detailed presentation on the implications of the Autumn Statement for local government, as well as the Institute’s initial findings from the their research programme into local government finance and devolution.  In doing so, he covered: borrowing forecast variations and the impact of policy changes; trends in capital departmental spending; resource spending pressures on councils; and the impact of grant allocation across different authority types.  With regards to 100% Business Rates retention and the IFS’s work, he touched upon: the issue of balance between incentivisation and equalisation; the quantum of funding and devolution of additional responsibilities; revaluation and appeals; and practises from the devolved administrations.

In the discussion that followed, Members asked a number of detailed questions regarding: methodology; the data sets used in calculating the share in national growth in business rates data across authority areas and type; the inclusion of Enterprise Zones in the forecasts; and recent changes to population data.

The Board thanked David for his informative presentation. 

Decision

The Resources Board noted the presentation.

Action

Circulate the presentation to Board Members.