Council leaders are poised to deliver a highly-critical verdict on the coalition's plan to overhaul the business rates system as part of its promise to give local authorities greater control of their finances.

In a report presented to its leaders committee on 11 October, London Councils – the umbrella group representing the capital's influential boroughs – has attacked government plans to overhaul the business rates system, claiming the proposals show ‘a disappointing lack of ambition and localism'.