As I write this, we are two days from the Budget – with most politicians and commentators discussing two key elements to it – jobs and growth. In last month’s column, I talked about how localising business rates can help growth – and indeed the coalition has since launched a review into local government finance reform.
Over the last year, CLES has been working with 15 local authorities across the UK, helping them to understand the resilience of their areas and to test a new model that we have developed.