Tax-raising 
powers urged 
for councils

Tax-raising powers are among elements included in a draft code published by an influential Commons committee which it said could form the basis for a statutory relationship.

And it also suggested that councils should be directly handed a share of income tax to bring them in line with powers granted to the Scottish government and proposed for Wales.

A report by the political and constitutional reform committee said breaking the “suffocating micro-management of Whitehall” was “the unfinished business of devolution”.

The code would guarantee independence and a secure financial base and allow “a range of revenue raising powers”, it said.