Burnham: Central government wastes money

CENTRAL government wastes more money than councils do, Andy Burnham has said ahead of devolution talks where he will call for more powers on spending.

The Greater Manchester mayor described the ‘distrust’ of local government as ‘dangerous’ and called for more decisions on spending to be made by councils.

Speaking at the Manchester Art Gallery yesterday, he suggested that the city-region should have full control over its own budget in the same way that devolved administrations in the nations of Scotland and Wales do. It comes as think tank the Institute for Government releases a report saying metro mayors should be given more power if levelling up is to be a success.

Mr Burnham was speaking at an event held by the think tank ahead of the next phase of devolution talks which he expects to start in earnest by next month. Greater Manchester has been highlighted as a ‘trailblazer’ for devolution in the government’s levelling up white paper which was published earlier this year.

Speaking at the Institute for Government event this week, Mr Burnham said local authorities should not have to compete against each other for funding.

He also argued against the government having to approve what money is spent on and said that councils should be trusted to spend cash instead. The mayor referred to the recent five-year transport financial settlement worth £1bn which has been granted to Greater Manchester as an example. Burnham said: “Central government wastes more money than local government from what I’ve seen – and I’ve been in both now for a big chunk of time.”