Sir Michael Lyons used his interim report this week to urge Whitehall to get off local government's back, but added town halls must improve their performance to earn greater freedoms.

Arguing that the current system failed to ‘make full use of the benefits local government can bring' he said: ‘Grants, targets and performance management have created an unhealthy situation where local councils are too-often focused on the wishes of ministers, rather than their own citizens' needs.'