The scheme will not allow mayors to give their residents tax rebates, despite calls to do so by some politicians
Andy Burnham has announced plans for England’s mayors to keep a share of taxes collected in their area. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is among the mayoral areas affected by the announcement on Friday (July 31).
The Prime Minister announced that regional mayors will be allowed to keep a slice of income tax and business rates to spend on their priorities, as part of his drive to push power out of Westminster. Mr Burnham described the proposals as “the biggest shift of power out of Whitehall and Westminster” to regions across the UK.
Speaking at a community centre in Sheffield, he said: “What brought me into politics was a determination to make sure, wherever you live in this country, the postcode where you live, or where you were born, doesn’t actually determine what your life should be like. That’s what I’m on a mission to change.
“No kid here, born in any of these streets around here, should have a harder life or fewer life chances than anyone born anywhere else, and that’s what this is all about.”
The government has confirmed that the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has been designated an Established Mayoral Strategic Authority. This means the Combined Authority is now better placed to work on future devolution arrangements, including a ‘right to request’ greater devolution, a spokesperson said.
Mr Burnham directly rejected the idea of mayors giving their local taxpayers rebates, telling broadcasters in Sheffield: “Well, I don’t go down that path, as some people are saying today, because this is about growth and investment.
“Britain is lagging on this front in the G7 because we are not investing as much as other countries in industry, in infrastructure, in housing. This is a growth agenda and an investment agenda, not a cuts agenda, because the cuts agenda has left us in a difficult position.”
He added: “We’re not going to repeat some of the mistakes of the past, the austerity of the past that then has left us with a low-investment, low-growth economy. This policy is designed to break that cycle.”#
Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “For years, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has helped drive growth for the whole country while seeing too little of that returned to our local communities. Today’s decision is the first step towards changing that.
“Being recognised as an Established Mayoral Strategic Authority puts us in a stronger position to secure new powers, greater funding flexibility and more control over the decisions that affect our region. The detail will matter, but if areas that create growth can keep more of the rewards, we can invest more in the transport, infrastructure, homes and skills our communities need.”
He continued: “Most importantly, residents should feel the benefits of growth. By keeping more of the wealth generated here, we can create more opportunity and help people live happier, healthier and wealthier lives.”
Details of the reforms – including what proportion of taxes the local leaders will keep – are expected to be announced in a white paper, published when Chancellor John Healey presents his first budget in the autumn. The rate of income tax that billpayers face will not change as a direct result of the reforms, according to the Government.
Ministers will retain an equalisation system, so areas where less tax is collected continue to receive financial support.
The paper also said the Government will give regional mayors and authorities across England the power to introduce a tourist tax, which it suggested could be collected and spent from March 2028.
Differing boundaries between local government, health authorities, and police forces could meanwhile be streamlined to avoid confusion about which authority provides services to which area, the Cabinet statement said.




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