West Midlands councils are among those lining up to pilot the Governments plans for full business rates retention - meaning that they will keep all the local taxes paid by businesses in their areas.

Currently the Government splits the rates collected with councils, but from 2019/2020 wants councils to keep all the money and give local authorities a greater incentive to promote business growth.

At the same time the Government is gradually withdrawing its grant support to councils enabling authorities to ultimately become self-sufficient through council taxes and local rates.

The pilot scheme is open to councils and combined authorities who have agreed devolution deals with the Government and will begin from April 2017. Under the pilot project no council will lose out financially.

Here in the West Midlands, council leaders have backed the idea, which now needs all seven metropolitan councils to formally agree to the plan, before any final sign-off by the government.

Birmingham council leader John Clancy said: “The government’s reform of local government finance will become a reality sooner rather than later, so our participation in a pilot will give us the opportunity to look at how it works in the West Midlands, and then help shape national thinking about the way the full national scheme will be implemented in due course.

“Just as importantly, it will also facilitate discussions with government about further devolution, again ensuring that Birmingham and the wider West Midlands gets the best deal possible.”

Elsewhere Liverpool city region, Greater Manchester, the Greater London Authority and Cambridge have signed up for the pilots.