Healey’s first budget to include big devolution package to boost growth
Reported by The Guardian Business, not nibnow. We are not the publisher of this story, only the source is.
The budget will introduce a £1.5 billion borrowing facility that gives English mayors direct control over spending, potentially accelerating local projects and economic growth.
Chancellor will build on Burnham’s promise that local leaders in England will no longer have to ‘come cap in hand to Westminster’ Andy Burnham has promised that local leaders in England will no longer have to come “cap in hand to Westminster” ahead of a fresh drive to devolve spending power in next week’s budget. In his statement on Wednesday, the chancellor, John Healey, will include plans for a new £1.5bn borrowing facility, to be drawn up in collaboration with mayors over the next two years.
Devolution in England involves transferring fiscal powers from the central government to regional or local authorities, allowing them to raise and spend money on local priorities. Borrowing facilities are tools that let governments fund projects by taking on debt, which is then repaid over time.
- •Details of the borrowing facility and how mayors will access the funds
- •Reactions from local leaders and opposition parties to the devolution plan
- •Implementation timeline and any conditions attached to the new spending powers