Could Andy Burnham let mayors raise more taxes?

Since Sir Keir Starmer announced on 22 June 2026 that he would resign as Prime Minister, there has been speculation about the plans of Andy Burnham for further devolution in England.

During his time as mayor of Greater Manchester, Mr Burnham has expressed support for devolving more power to England’s mayors. Reports from several media outlets have suggested that, in particular, Mr Burnham may wish to grant new tax-levying powers to mayors (see, for instance, The Telegraph, Andy Burnham’s plot to turn tax into a postcode lottery, or The i Paper, The new tax raising powers Burnham will give to mayors).

Sir Keir Starmer’s administration introduced some minor additional powers for mayors to raise revenue. The government has also already begun to explore giving fixed shares of revenue from existing taxes directly to mayors.

On 31 July 2026 the government announced regional mayors would be given a share of income tax receipts and from Spring 2027 they would be able to retain a greater share of locally generated business rates. The government said details would be set out in a roadmap in the autumn Budget. The government also said over time “local areas will move away from dependence on Whitehall grants and towards funding that rewards local growth”. Opposition parties have said the announcement has no detail and could lead to areas with weaker economies losing out on funding.

Which taxes can mayors currently raise?

At the time of writing, strategic authority mayors receive most of their funding from central government grants.

A few mayors receive a small amount of funding from business rates. Mayors can also set a supplementary business rate, but only with the approval of the businesses affected.

Strategic authority mayors can raise a ‘precept’: a share of council tax. This has been done by four strategic authority mayors. Mayors who have police and fire responsibilities can set separate precepts for those functions. Mayors with neither of these responsibilities raise very small amounts of money through the precept: for instance, £36 a year on a band D property in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and £24 a year in Liverpool City Region.

Mayors can also institute road charging schemes. London’s Congestion Charge and Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) are the only examples of road charging schemes introduced by a mayor.

Are there more mayoral tax-raising powers in the pipeline?

Mayors will be able to introduce a Community Infrastructure Levy using powers in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026. This is a charge per square metre on large-scale commercial property development.

The government published a consultation in November 2025 on giving mayors the power to introduce an overnight visitor levy, also known as a ‘tourist tax’. A bill to enable mayors to raise an overnight visitor levy featured in the 2026 King’s Speech. This power is not likely to be available to mayors until 2028 at the earliest. More details can be found in the Commons Library briefing Visitor levies: policy and debates.

Are there longer-term plans to give mayors more tax-raising powers?

In March 2026, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, committed the Treasury to developing a ‘fiscal devolution roadmap’. This is expected to be published alongside the autumn 2026 Budget. An interim report is expected in summer 2026. The Chancellor stated that the Treasury would investigate transferring the revenue from a share of some national taxes to strategic authority mayors:

“[The roadmap] will set out plans to give regional leaders control of a share of some national taxes…

[The Treasury] will look at income tax, alongside other taxes, with reforms initially targeted at those places that have the greatest capacity to deliver them…

This is not about new taxes and it’s not about higher tax rates – I will not ask taxpayers to pay more.”

Following a commitment in February 2026, the Treasury is also considering passing a share of business rates revenue to mayors.

What are Andy Burnham’s current plans?

Andy Burnham made a high-profile speech on 29 June 2026, which set out some core intentions if he became Prime Minister. His speech did not include any commitments to introduce powers for mayors to raise taxes. Mr Burnham mentioned his intention to reform business rates to support high streets and pubs: this would be a decision for the UK Government. He also said that he would “consolidate public and private investment at a place-based level and help all areas establish Good Growth Funds”.

There has been speculation that Mr Burnham would continue with the longer-term plans, instituted by Rachel Reeves, to give strategic authority mayors control of a share of some national taxes (see the section above). In a radio interview on 24 June 2026, Lord (Jim) O’Neill – mooted as a possible adviser to Mr Burnham – said that “Business rates devolution is a very strong probability. I think exploring [devolving] aspects of income tax is possible”.

On 31 July 2026 the government announced plans to hand a share on income tax receipts to strategic authority mayors. Income tax rates will not change as a result of the reform. The announcement also said from Spring 2027 mayors will begin retaining a greater share of locally generated revenues, starting with business rates. More details on both policies will be announced in the autumn Budget of 2026. The FT reported (subscription required) that “People familiar with the latest proposal said there would still need to be an equalisation mechanism, recognising the difference between local economies”.

The government’s intention is that “local areas will move away from dependence on Whitehall grants and towards funding that rewards local growth”. This will be accompanied by Whitehall departments adopting a new “local first” principle where they would need to justify why powers and funding should remain in Westminster rather than being handed over to regional and local leaders.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has welcomed the proposals but has warned that areas without Mayors or strategic authorities will not benefit. The chair of the LGA said “it is important Government provides clarity on how distribution will be equitable regardless of geography or governance structures”. The Liberal Democrats warned the plans risked “creating a postcode lottery" that would leave millions of people living in rural areas "short-changed and underfunded”.

Conservative shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said the announcement was "very short on the detail". Lord Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor for Tees Valley, said he planned to "create a new rebate scheme to put money back into people's pockets". Reform mayors in Hull and East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire are reportedly exploring similar proposals although Reform UK home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said the prime minister should "fully devolve the power to stop the housing of illegal migrants in local communities by the Home Office".

First Secretary of State Louise Haigh said areas would not need mayors to benefit from investment, because devolution powers would be held by new strategic authorities across England. She also responded to the idea of rebates by saying, “There's not a system that would currently allow that. They certainly wouldn't be able to set tax rates locally or regionally”. Lord Houchen responded by saying, "So devolution means getting people's taxes to spend but not being allowed to give it back to them…Doesn't sound much like devolution to me. Just an excuse for a tax grab”.

What has Andy Burnham previously said about other taxes?

Some media coverage has also claimed that Mr Burnham supports changes to council tax. A report in The Times on 22 May 2026 quoted him as saying: “I’ve long been persuaded of the argument for a land value tax. I’m personally keen to see reform of council tax. It’s a highly regressive tax. I see a big case for land and property and business taxation to be changed.”

The Times has also reported that Mr Burnham supports the campaign group Fairer Share, which advocates proportional property tax (Fairer Share lists Mr Burnham as a supporter on its website). Fairer Share’s proportional property tax would replace council tax and stamp duty with a percentage levy (it suggests 0.48%) on the value of a property. The group claims that 75% of households would see a reduction in their bills using the system it proposes.

However, on 27 July 2026 the Prime Minister ruled out replacing council tax saying, “That won’t be happening”.

Council tax revaluation has not taken place in England since council tax was introduced in 1991. Successive governments have had a policy of not revaluing council tax.

The current government plans to introduce a High Value Council Tax Surcharge on properties valued at over £2 million, from 2028/29 onwards.

What other powers could mayors have over taxes?

Several thinktanks have published reports which propose changing the way that strategic authority mayors are funded (see, for instance, Re:State, Taxing for take-off, or Centre for Cities, Fiscal devolution for England). These reports largely advocate passing a share of the revenues from national taxes to mayors, as suggested by Rachel Reeves in March 2026. They also include some suggestions to give mayors powers to raise or lower taxes.

For instance, the basic rate of income tax is 20p in the pound. Re:State suggest that the government should allocate mayors 2.5p in every pound raised by the basic rate paid by taxpayers in their areas. This would come out of the 20p basic rate of income tax, and the remaining 17.5p would go to the government (the government currently collects and uses all the revenue raised by the 20p basic rate). Mayors wouldn’t be able to change the underlying income tax rate, so the amount paid by taxpayers wouldn’t change.

England’s regions are significantly unequal in economic terms. The revenue from 2.5p of the basic rate of income tax (for instance) would raise considerably different amounts for different mayors. Under such a model, the government would have to consider whether to use additional grants to equalise funding between areas. The government currently equalises funding between councils, using a detailed needs assessment.

Introducing more powers for mayors to raise taxes would be complex and could face opposition. The academics Dave Richards and Sam Warner recently said that “the Treasury’s guiding principles have barely shifted, despite a decade of English devolution. It still treats greater fiscal autonomy as something to be earned, not a governing principle”.