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Local Government Finance

No, I am not going to give way—not today, thank you. What we need is a new approach to local government. We need an approach of localism that will move away from the trend that councils have seen under this Government, which is more micromanagement, more reporting upwards, less ability to decide local priorities and more top-down diktat from Westminster. What people actually want in their local communities across Britain is the chance for their local council to spend money on their local priorities, not on the priorities that are so often set by the Secretary of State.