OXFORDSHIRE councils will be able to keep an extra £23m of business rates generated here if they secure a place on a Government pilot scheme.

It would mean Oxfordshire County Council and the five district councils keep all of their business rate 'growth' over 2018/19 – instead of half going to the Government.

The Oxfordshire Growth Board, which is made up of the six councils and submitted the bid, said it expects it would be able to keep hold of £23m in business rates which would otherwise be lost to Whitehall.

The chairman of the Oxfordshire Growth Board and the leader of Oxford City Council, councillor Bob Price, said the bid was a boost.

He said: “I’m pleased the Oxfordshire Growth Board is continuing to work collaboratively in the collective interest of Oxfordshire, its residents and businesses to help deliver the best possible growth outcomes for the county.”

Oxfordshire County Council’s director of finance, Lorna Baxter, said the money would ‘not necessarily’ be split into equal shares between the six councils but that it would be spent on projects that were for the 'common good'.

If the bid is successful, 70 per cent of the new money – about £16m – would be spent on developing infrastructure, such as planning.

The rest would be spent on priorities agreed by the growth board.

Since 2013 councils have been able to keep 50 per cent of all non-domestic rates collected, because their main grants from central government have been cut.

Under this bid that would increase to 100 per cent.

The growth board's bid was submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on Friday, the last day it was accepting proposals.

The councils will be told whether they are successful in the weeks following the Budget, which will be held on November 22.

It is expected any arrangement will last for a year but that it could be rolled on for another if all councils are happy for it to continue.

Chief executive of Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) and non-voting member of the growth board, Nigel Tipple, said: “In recent weeks we have seen strong indications that the Oxfordshire economy is building on an environment that supports dynamic economic growth.

“Just last week, national research suggested that Oxford had the second fastest-growing economy of any UK city, whilst business space requirements in Oxfordshire increased by 74 per cent in the first half of this financial year, reaching a half-year record high.

“As a growth board, we need to ensure that we continue to build on this, as well as sensitively developing an infrastructure that is fit for purpose, further supporting our ability to grow.”

In 2015, Chancellor Phillip Hammond said allowing councils to keep all growth above a Government-set baseline meant the 100 per cent Business Rates Retention Scheme would be a ‘devolution revolution’.

The model is currently being trialled in Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, the West Midlands, Cornwall and the West Midlands.

Critics have said it will mean councils need to foot the bill for extra services as the Government seeks to make local authorities more self-sufficient.

A DCLG spokesman said: “We’re committed to giving local authorities more control over the money they raise.

"We’re currently assessing bids and will announce successful pilots in due course.”