COUNCILLORS overseeing the south coast’s economy have urged the next Chancellor of the Exchequer to let Brighton and Hove control more of its business rates after another city was given a boost.

In one of his last actions before stepping down, Brighton and Hove City Council leader Jason Kitcat has led the charge in calling for the city to follow Greater Manchester, which was told by Chancellor George Osborne last month that it can keep 100% of its business rates growth as part of his commitment to creating a “Northern Powerhouse”.

Coun Kitcat told The Argus: “I would very much welcome matching Greater Manchester’s deal, including retaining 100% of business rate growth locally.”

But, in his role as chairman of the Greater Brighton Economic Board, he also sent a longer-term message to the next incumbent of Number 11 Downing Street.

Coun Kitcat said: “This would only be change around the margins of the existing highly centralised system where the Chancellor controls business rates from Westminster.

“Greater Brighton’s recognition by Government through our City Deal means we are in a strong position to seek further devolution in the coming years.”

The Green councillor steps down from both his leader and Greater Brighton roles in May.

Normally locking horns with Coun Kitcat over city issues, Geoffrey Theobald, leader of the Conservative opposition and also on the Greater Brighton board, concurred.

He said: “I fully support any moves to allow councils to retain a greater share of the additional business rates generated in their area and I would like to see Greater Brighton push for the same sort of deal that Manchester secured from the Chancellor in his recent Budget.

“It is certainly something I will continue to push hard for.”

Coun Theobald said the existing 49% retention was a powerful incentive for councils and was already a factor in current business cases.

Two more board members, Rob Blackman, the leader of Lewes District Council, and Neil Parkin, leader of Adur District Council, both also backed the call, with the latter adding: “I would like us to keep all business rates and not just new growth.”

While not on the board, Brighton and Hove’s Labour leader, Warren Morgan, said that Labour pledged in February to allow councils to keep 100% of extra business rates as part of a plan to devolve over £30 billion in Whitehall funding to regions such as Greater Brighton.

He said: “This will be vital if a Labour council is to deliver on pledges to wipe out youth unemployment, end zero-hours contracts and build a local economy where a secure, well-paid job with decent prospects is within reach of everyone.”

Chancellor George Osborne told the Manchester Evening News: “My door is open to other cities who want to follow their [Manchester’s] path.”

There are other considerations, too.

Manchester City Council was keen to paint the news as a success story at the time, though the extra cash will only come if there is growth.

In 2013/14, Greater Manchester and Cheshire East council collected around £1 billion in business rates – £149 million less than forecast.

Locally, Tony Mernagh, chief executive of the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, which is on the Greater Brighton board, warned not to get carried away with the amount any new business rates would rise.

He told The Argus: “The things that really generate business rates quickly are large supermarkets and large-scale retail sheds but we don’t have the room or the appetite for either.

“We have a number of other developments in the pipeline that will also generate business rates, such as the offices at Circus Street in Brighton, but even keeping 100% of the rates raised from developments like this won’t come close to bridging the city’s £102 million funding gap.

“Every little helps but, in the grand scheme of things, this is indeed ‘little’.

“Brighton is ahead of the game in that we do have millions of pounds of development in the pipeline but it has to be built first and even then we just don’t have the rateable values of places like London to generate a fortune.”