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Metro mayors received a small nudge towards fiscal devolution in the Budget.
Reeves confirmed that local officials will be able to raise a so-called “tourist tax” by adding a surcharge to hotel bills in their areas.
Mayors have long been pushing for such powers, but the Treasury had previously resisted. In Greater Manchester, mayor Andy Burnham has suggested the revenue could be used to fund the local bus network, which has recently been brought back under public control.
In West Yorkshire, Leeds council will also be allowed to retain future growth in business rates, in part to fund regeneration in the city’s South Bank area, recently designated a priority “new town” by the government.
Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse business lobby group, said such devolution was welcome.
However he added that while the new mansion tax will be raised locally by councils, it would be used to “top up Whitehall funds”.
As a result the debate on “mayors and councils having access to wider range of tax instruments” would now “only intensify”.
Reeves made no mention of “Northern Powerhouse Rail”, the east-west rail upgrades intended to include a new line between Manchester and Liverpool, the announcement of which has been repeatedly delayed.
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