Communities secretary Eric Pickles has disclosed that he would like to see local government's share of business rates increase to 80% by the end of the next Parliament.

Giving the keynote afternoon address of the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) conference in west London, Mr Pickles said there was now cross-party approval for greater local financial powers – as evinced by yesterday's publication of Lord Adonis' review for the Labour Party, which recommended combined authorities should receive the benefits of higher business rate yields.