Local government secretary Eric Pickles today (19 August) published technical papers supporting his plan to localise business rates.

Mr Pickles sketched his business rates plan when he published the initial findings from his Local Government Resource Review (LGRR) earlier this summer – and promised further details of how his suggested system of 'tariffs and top ups' would be put in place so that no local authority loses out when the current, centrally-pooled, system is scrapped.