Economic Affairs Committee

16 June 2026

Contents updated on 16 Jun 2026

Chair and witnesses set the analytical framework for fiscal devolution, then examine how different national models (notably Spain and France) shape accountability, fiscal rules, the pace and sequencing of devolution, and the balance between local tax autonomy, borrowing limits and democratic responsibility in England.

Committee Tue, 16 Jun 2026 Actual start 14:45 House of Lords

24:36 - 26:03

Speaker 1

Welcome to this evidence session in our Lords Economic Affairs Committee inquiry into fiscal devolution in England. And we're delighted in today's session we're going to hear from four experts on this issue with international case study expertise. If I can briefly introduce Dr. Sean Dougherty, senior advisor at the OECD.

Dr. Sandra León, who is a research scientist at the Institute of Public Goods and Policies at the Spanish National Research Council. Dr. Johanna Schnabel, researcher at the Free University in Berlin. And Professor Alain Trannoy, who's research director at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.

We're really grateful for your time. We are going to take a transcript of the session and we will pass it on to you soon afterwards so you can make any factual corrections. So let me start with a general question and perhaps I'll start with directing this at Sean from the OECD to start with. What exactly is the evidence for fiscal devolution's tendency to actually produce positive economic outcomes to support economic growth? And how confident can we be that fiscal devolution does result in better economic outcomes and higher levels of growth?

26:03 - 26:04

Sean, over to you.

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