Funding public services: postcode lotteries or local responsibilities?

Where should decisions on our taxes and public services be taken? Should services be funded on a comparable basis nationally from national taxes? Or should councils and other local public sector organisations have responsibility for funding services in their area, and discretion over what to spend and how to raise their revenues? Is more local responsibility a good thing that will empower communities to improve and tailor services? Or does it simply risk worsening ‘postcode lotteries’ in access to services and the taxes we pay? Would it address concerns, implicated in the Brexit vote, that decisions are made by a distant and out-of-touch elite? Or would it widen inequalities, breeding further political divisions?

These questions were all discussed at a presentation and debate hosted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Birmingham University. To kick off the event, David Phillips, Associate Director at the IFS spoke about how our local services are currently funded, and what planned and possible reforms could mean, focusing on the West Midlands area. The presentation was followed by a panel discussion with leading researchers from Birmingham University, local policymakers from the West Midlands, and service users – who gave their views on the appropriate balance between local and national responsibility.

This event was part of the 2018 ESRC Festival of Social Science. The 16^th annual Festival of Social Science took place from 3—10 November 2018 with over 300 free events nationwide. Run by the Economic and Social Research Council, the festival provides an opportunity for the public to meet some of the country’s leading social scientists to discover, discuss and debate how research affects their lives. With a range of creative and engaging events going on across the UK, there’s something for everyone including businesses, charities, schools and government agencies. The full programme is available at: www.esrc.ac.uk/festival.