ESSEX County Council’s leader has given a cautious welcome to Government plans to give local authorities control of business rates.

Chancellor George Osborne announced plans for councils to keep all proceeds of business rates at the Conservative Party Conference this week.

Currently, the Treasury takes half of the £26billion collected in the UK, with the other half being retained locally.

Essex County Council, which has previously lobbied the Government on the subject, has welcomed the news, but called for more details about the scheme to be revealed.

Council leader David Finch said: "The Chancellor’s announcement is good news and very much in the spirit of devolution and local democracy. It should rightly be welcomed.

“For a number of years we have been very clear in saying that local authorities are better placed than central Government to support local economic growth and help grow the business base in their areas.

“This will give us more power to act more creatively and respond quickly.

“We will be able to have more influence on business and the local economy, and ultimately local control over local taxation can only strengthen local democracy.

"However as ever with Government announcements, the devil is in the detail.

“We do not yet know what redistribution mechanisms will be put in place - there will still be a system required to move taxation collected between authorities, so we do not yet know precisely what this will mean for Essex.”

The county council, along with all borough and district councils in the area, submitted a “Greater Essex” devolution bid for wider powers last month.

The Government is expected to make an announcement on the bid in the new year.