Conclusion 11

The Department told us that local places could also top up the funding from central government.19 We asked how the Department was supporting local funding contributions and ensuring areas less able to mobilise funds are not left behind. The Department did not set out a clear approach, but explained that local funding could come from existing funding streams as well as potential future ones, subject to the Chancellor’s decisions on fiscal devolution.20 HM Treasury set out two of the Chancellor’s principles for fiscal devolution: fiscal neutrality (redirecting existing national taxation revenue streams to local areas, rather than generating new revenue) and fairness (making sure strong areas do not get stronger at the expense of weaker areas).21 When we asked how the Department intended to capture land value through planning gain, it explained that if mayoral authorities could capture planning gain then they could use this to top up the £45 billion, but gave no clear objective or central strategy on the matter.22 Learning lessons