The chancellor is looking to tackle the “begging bowl” relationship between England’s regions and the Treasury by giving local mayors more powers over their own finances.
Government officials said Jeremy Hunt and levelling up secretary Michael Gove are working to find ways to empower mayors through a form of fiscal devolution, starting with the West Midlands and Greater Manchester.
Hunt is studying a memo from Andy Street, Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, following the recent allocation of £2.1bn of levelling up funding. Street called for “an end to the ‘begging bowl’ culture that undermines the relationship between the regions and the centre”.
