The Cities Manifesto outlines Centre for Cities’ policy recommendations to the political parties in the run-up to the May 2010 General Election. We will be revisiting our Manifesto proposals over the autumn party conference season to assess what progress has been made by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.
See the Centre for Cities’ main website for our latest research and comment.

Spring 2010

Britain has emerged from recession – but only just. The recovery will be slow and uneven. Cities Outlook 2010, our annual index of urban economies, gave a stark picture of the widening gap between Britain’s cities. Since the recession began, the difference between the two cities with the highest and lowest shares of residents claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance – Hull and Cambridge – has nearly doubled.

We think the next Government needs urban policies which address the different needs of the UK’s biggest cities (like Greater London and the City Regions of Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds), our struggling cities (such as Doncaster, Stoke and Barnsley) and buoyant cities (such as Cambridge, Reading, Milton Keynes and Brighton). Our Manifesto sets out what these policies might look like.

Our main finding is that cities need to be given more freedom over their economic future, and the financial flexibility to make their own decisions. The UK is over-centralised compared to other developed countries. Local Government accounts for 26% of Government expenditure, but in the UK, only 17% of finance is locally raised. The average for the OECD is 55%. More financial freedom would give cities the incentives to create the conditions for businesses to grow and create jobs, and to improve public spending efficiency. Relocalising the business rate should be the first step.

The Government should then set out a roadmap for further financing reforms. Progress on the roadmap, towards a more local balance of funding, should be reported to Parliament each year. Some level of equalisation would need to continue to occur, particularly to take into account the high tax take in the City of London and Westminster, and the Revenue Support Grant would also need to be reformed.