Consultation response on Country and Regional Public Sector Finances

A country and regional publication that presents public sector finances, on a comparable basis, at the NUTS1 level, would be very helpful to the Greater London Authority (GLA) and others. GLA Economics, as well as City Corporation and the London Finance Commission, have had to devote significant resources to understanding how much has been raised in London and how/where it was spent. Going forward, the GLA could use this sort of data to develop ideas around infrastructure financing, and produce analysis on whether particular policies are likely to become self-financing or make ‘financial sense’ from a public finances perspective. A periodical on the regional breakdown of current levels of spending and receipts would provide valuable input to the debate around fiscal devolution and regional policy-making. Following not only the increase in powers to the Scottish government, but the more recent devolution of increased business rates revenue to London government, there is a stronger need for regional current spending and receipts data.