Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Rejected
New Burdens doctrine insufficient to prevent local government unfunded mandates
Conclusion
The New Burdens doctrine, which requires government departments to ensure any new responsibilities for local authorities are fully costed and funded, is a vitally important part of government financing but is not robust enough to prevent unfunded mandates. (Conclusion, Paragraph 75)
Government response summary AI-generated
The Government does not accept the recommendation to devolve full responsibility for setting council tax to individual councils at this time, citing existing local authority control over tax levels and discretionary powers.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government · verbatim extract
Rejected
38. The New Burdens Doctrine exists to ensure that where central government places new statutory duties or instructs changes in how existing responsibilities must be delivered, local authorities are properly funded. The Government has explored whether the New Burdens Doctrine should be placed on a statutory footing and our view is that this would reduce its effectiveness. The Doctrine is deliberately designed to be dynamic allowing us to respond flexibly to new policy requirements, financial constraints, and delivery risks as they arise. In practice, it functions as a central mechanism for holding departments to account when they introduce new legal duties without local input. Locking it into legislation would limit its ability to evolve alongside wider public service reform. 39. As we look to the future, it is important that the Doctrine continues to reflect the evolving landscape of local government delivery. To that end, we are currently reviewing and updating the New Burdens doctrine to ensure it remains effective and proportionate. As part of this, we are considering how to better account for costs associated with bidding processes and a more efficient way of ensuring councils fully benefit from New Burdens funding by streamlining the payment process, as outlined in the FFR 2.0 consultation.
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