Abstract
The funding of local government has long been believed to have important implications for local autonomy and democracy. A system of local authority finance where councils have freedom to raise taxation and to determine how resources are used is clearly different from one where authorities rely largely or wholly on resources allocated by an upper tier of government. In the words of the Layfield Committee:
If local authorities are to exercise discretion over the way they carry out their functions and to determine the level and pattern of expenditure on them, they should be responsible for finding the money through local taxes for which they are accountable.
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Notes and references
See T. Travers, ‘Conclusion’, The Politics of Local Government Finance (Allen & Unwin, 1986 ).
C. D. Foster, R. Jackman and M. Perlman, Local Government Finance in a Unitary State (Allen & Unwin, 1980 ) pp. 152–71.
Local Government Review, A New Tax for Local Government: Consultation Paper (Department of the Environment, 1991).
Audit Commission, The Sooner the Better: Progress Report on the Council Tax (HMSO, 1993).
Rita Hale and Tony Travers, £36 Billion and Rising (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 1993).
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© 1995 Tony Travers
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Travers, T. (1995). Finance. In: Stewart, J., Stoker, G. (eds) Local Government in the 1990s. Government Beyond the Centre. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23815-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23815-6_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-61684-0
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