After seven years of a Labour Government, latest studies suggest the gap between rich and poor areas is continuing to widen. Many believe one of the root causes for these continuing disparities is the way the UK's highly-centralised system of local taxation throttles local civic enterprise. These voices include the Government's own urban task force which, in its landmark 1999 report, called for councils to be given greater control over local taxing and spending. But while regeneration experts think local taxation is an important issue, the subject merits just one mention in the ODPM's 71-page balance of funding review.
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