How cities can unlock more investment for inclusive growth policies
Cities have a crucial role to play in supporting inclusive growth. But with few powers to control or raise taxes locally and after nearly a decade of spending cuts from central government, it is becoming increasingly difficult for authorities to fund policies to address these issue.
In this context, it is important that cities find ways to increase revenues, leverage returns on their investment, encourage investment from other stakeholders, and coordinate the spend of organisations within cities to support better outcomes for residents at all levels of the income distribution.
This report explores the funding and finance options available to cities, setting out four approaches that cities could potentially take to fund and finance inclusive growth policy:
It also argues that every city should establish an Inclusive Growth Investment Commission, with three main objectives: 1) identify barriers to achieving inclusive growth, 2) develop financial mechanisms to address inclusive growth priorities, and 3) coordinate spend within the city or combined authority.
Finally, the report examines the ways in which national government can help widen cities’ access to funding and finance to support better outcomes for their communities.
Find out more about the options for funding and finance inclusive growth using our online tool
Go to the tool