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Sir Michael Lyons has shrugged off criticisms of his long-awaited inquiry, insisting that he knew it was ‘always going to be a challenge'. He told more than 550 delegates at a conference organised this week by the inquiry: ‘I could be neither a standard-bearer for local government nor an apologist for lack of central government action. ‘I've found the medium path, and managed to disappoint both sides.' He added: ‘This is a complex issue with no simple solutions, and those who thought I was going to unveil proposals which would feature in a Budget must have dropped off a Christmas tree or need to go and sit in a darkened corner.' He said he was ‘not surprised' that ministers rejected the inquiry's more controversial aspects such as revaluation. He added: ‘So why did I call for an end to capping? Because I wanted to underline central government's share of responsibility for its decision as it affects council taxpayers, since it skewers the tax regime.' Sir Michael shared a platform with local government minister, Phil Woolas, and Treasury minister, Ed Balls, both of whom praised the report, even while rejecting its main proposals. Mr Balls, tipped for a top job under Gordon Brown, said it would ‘set the debate on local government finance for a decade to come', and added that it was a discussion for ‘the medium and long-term agenda.' Mr Woolas, while repeating his rejection of capping, revaluation, a tourism tax and extra council tax bands, insisted that Lyons and the White Paper were ‘parallel processes.' He said: ‘There has been a lot of scaremongering about the council tax. Lyons says it's not broken and what causes the controversy is not the tax itself but the tax rises.' But he added: ‘Unless the public is convinced it gets value for money from its spending, then no amount of changing the balance of funding will matter.' He said that LAAs displayed ‘a radical shift in power from central to local' and predicted that by 2011, £5bn of public spending would be directed through LAAs. Among other speakers at the packed one-day event was CBI director Richard Lambert , who opposed the plan for a supplementary business rate, saying: ‘We will not be supporting this recommendation unless it comes with a guaranteed vote for business.' And London mayor, Ken Livingstone, slated Whitehall for its slow decision-making, claiming that he only backed the Olympics bid in order ‘to hold a Sword of Damocles' over the Government's head and force it to invest in regeneration in east London in time for 2012.

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WHITEHALL

Lyons shrugs off review critics

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