Member Article

London devolution: Khan calls for New York mayor-style tax raising powers

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has seized on the publicity surrounding his recent five-day visit to North America to call for more tax raising powers.

Coming off the back of a trade visit which included stops in Montreal, Chicago and New York, Khan highlighted the power New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio retains over taxes and public services in the American capital where the Mayor’s office controls over half of the funds raised from businesses and residents.

By contrast, the Mayor of London and the London Boroughs combined currently control just 7%, while also deferring control of services such as education, skills and healthcare to the government.

Khan has increased calls for greater devolved powers for London in the wake of the EU referendum, arguing that the city needs more control over taxation, skills and other services to ensure Londoners are protected from economic uncertainty brought about by Brexit.

He said: “London needs more control over the services that will help improve life in our city, such as housing, skills, air quality, health and crime.

“I’ve seen first-hand that Mayors in cities like New York, Chicago and Montreal are able to make huge improvements to the lives of the people they represent, because they have more control over services in their city.”

The Mayor reconvened the London Finance Commission, which is chaired by London School of Economics’ Professor Tony Travers, in July and tasked it with coming up with more ambitious devolution proposals to be presented to ministers.