A Tory mayor has revived plans to hand tax rebates to residents in his region after talks with Treasury officials convinced him the scheme could be possible under Labour’s devolution plans.
The proposal was initially dismissed by Louise Haigh, the Cabinet Office minister responsible for devolution, who said in July that the scheme was “certainly” not possible with current HMRC limitations.
But Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley, says he now believes mayors could have the power to introduce tax rebates under plans to give England’s regions greater control over taxation.
Shorts
The proposal would allow Houchen to turn a slice of the Government’s devolution settlement into a direct tax giveaway – putting him on a collision course with Labour mayors who argue devolved money should be spent on public services and economic investment.
