Why the Deputy Prime Minister is calling for more confident fiscal devolution

Angela Rayner has made her clearest case yet for giving local authorities more financial firepower.

Speaking at the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee this week, the Deputy Prime Minister said she wanted to see a “greater push” on fiscal devolution – enabling regional and local government to not just spend money, but raise it too.

🔗 Read the full article by Local Government Chronicle (subscription likely to be required)

🗣️ “The people best placed to know what a place needs are the people who live and work there,” Rayner said – restating Labour’s commitment to an “everywhere” devolution model.

This includes:

More powers to raise and retain local taxes
Greater flexibility on borrowing and investment
Local control of transport, housing and regeneration policy
A single mayor for every region

Angela Rayner also repeated that structural reform of local government would go hand-in-hand with new powers – with county deals and combined authorities expected to transition to unitary models over time.

⚠️ However, she warned that reform must not “entrench existing inequalities” and called for a new round of engagement to ensure community voices shape local delivery.

📍 What might this mean for Sussex & Brighton?

With the Sussex devolution deal on track for submission in under a year, Rayner’s intervention signals:

🔑 Fiscal freedoms may soon be on the table – but only if governance structures are clear, efficient and locally mandated
💼 Councils in Sussex should prepare for a future with greater revenue-raising responsibility – and risk
🔍 More scrutiny will be placed on how money is allocated between urban and rural areas

📢 If Sussex wants a say in how fiscal powers are distributed – now is the time to show what it could do differently.

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