Forty years ago the Layfield Committee on Local Government Finance reported. We were both members of it, serving from 1974 to 1976. There had been no major review of local government finance since the Kempe Committee inquiry of 1911 to 1914.

We were told to report by the end of 1975. We met for 49 full days, plus 33 days to hear oral evidence in London, Cardiff and Edinburgh. In total, 1,012 items of written evidence were submitted. We visited the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and West Germany to see at first hand how different systems of local government operated.