10 February 2024 , 18:38
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Angela Rayner is set to unveil long-term “partnership” funding plans for local councils picking up the pieces of Tory chaos.
In a speech to the Labour Local Government Conference in Warwick, the Deputy Labour Leader will say the “biggest obstacle to resolving the crisis” in local government is the Conservative Party.
“The Tories have left working people paying more for less, with councils left picking up the pieces,” she’ll say, speaking in her role as Shadow Levelling Up Secretary.
“Local government leaders are fighting to deliver vital services against the tide of a Tory economic mismanagement as demand surges amid the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.”
She’s set to promise Labour would rebuild the foundations of local government with “long-term” funding settlements for struggling councils, but warned resolving the crisis facing many local areas would require “a long slog, not a magic wand.”
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The party’s “Take Back Control Act” would set up a system for local leaders to take on powers over economic policy - and bid for any powers already devolved to other areas.
Powers over housing, planning, adult skills and transport would also be handed to existing metro mayors and combined authorities under the plan.
And Ms Rayner pledged to end the “begging bowl” system of councils having to prepare costly, piecemeal bids for ringfenced cash to pay for local projects.
With the council tax bill set to double since Labour was last in government, any blame for a rise in council tax lies squarely with this Conservative government,” she’s expected to say. “The biggest obstacle to resolving the crisis in local government is the Conservative Party.
“Labour is under no illusions about the scale of the problems we'd inherit if we win the election when it comes to the crisis in local government. There is no magic wand but instead a long, hard slog to work in partnership with councils to rebuild from the ground up.”