12 September 2003
Local income tax is to be put forward as a possible means of generating revenue in the Association of London Government's submission to the government's Balance of Funding Review.
At a meeting on September 9, the leaders of London's councils gave their broad approval to the proposals included in the draft submission paper. They were keen to see it include some reference to the introduction of local income tax as an option for raising funds.
An ALG spokesman said that the association will research how a local income tax would work in London before the final submission is sent to the balance of funding steering group by the September 30 deadline.
The draft paper calls on the government to take steps to ensure that local authority funding is more predictable and stable: 'Consideration should be given to returning a proportion of business rates to local control, and local authorities should have greater flexibility to charge for some services.'
PFsep2003
