Committee chair welcomes report calling for 'metro' devolution
22 October 2014
Clive Betts MP comments on the RSA City Growth Commission’s final report calling for ‘metro’ devolution
- RSA City Growth Commission
- Report: Devolution in England: The case for local government
- Communities and Local Government Committee
Welcoming the final report by the RSA City Growth Commission, calling for the devolution of powers to promote growth in England’s ‘metro’ areas, Clive Betts, Chair of Communities and Local Government Committee said:
"This excellent report echoes a number of points made by the CLG Committee in its report, Devolution in England: the case for local government, published on 9 July.
Like the City Growth Commission, we drew attention to the need to give devolved areas more powers over council tax and business rates. We are pleased to see the commission agree that devolving a range of taxes, such as stamp duty, would allow city and county regions to take more control over their economic destiny.
In our report, we also highlighted the need for an independent committee to help decide whether areas are ready for devolution. We are delighted to see the commission take this idea and develop it, calling for areas to start making bids to the committee for devolved powers from May 2015.
We still await the Government’s response to our report. A number of high-profile bodies have now made similar constructive proposals to give English city and county regions powers. These proposals will promote growth and provide better public services in their areas. The Government must now publicly engage with these ideas and get to work on making them a reality."