HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds could be pumped back into West Oxfordshire's economy next year if it succeeds in a bid to keep a much bigger chunk of business rates.

The district wants to become one of the first parts of England to hold on to 100 per cent of cash it receives above a Government set baseline.

Currently it only keeps half of that money.

The extra cash could be spent on initiatives including a scheme that helps first time buyers in the area.

Last week West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) cabinet approved a bid to become part of the Government's '100 per cent business rates retention pool pilot'.

Deputy leader of the council Toby Morris said that the decision to pursue the scheme was a ‘no brainer’.

He said: “When we’ve looked at the scheme it’s made sense as an area of economic growth, to enter a bid.

“The benefit will be that we can retain much more of our rates and provide more funding for the area.

“Where that will go depends on what items are put in the bid.

"I would be interested in infrastructure and how we can support the local economy by investing in West Oxfordshire and the county as a whole.”

If the bid is successful, the area would be among the first pioneering schemes, following five pilots in devolved areas that began in April.

It would would come into effect in 2018/19 and could then be extended for future years or could become the norm across England.

For 2017/18, WODC is expected to collect £37.5m in business rates.

Under current rules it keeps the first £2m, the Government and Oxfordshire County Council are also allocated a large proportion and WODC then gets 50 per cent of what it collects over the £2m baseline.

If the bid for the pilot is successful, which will be revealed in the Autumn Budget on November 22, WODC would keep 100 per cent above that £2m baseline – which could total hundreds of thousands of pounds.

During the pilot phase, the money will be distributed to project-based programmes.

In West Oxfordshire this could, for example, include further investment in the district council’s local authority partnership purchase scheme, which helps first time buyers.

Jenny Poole is the group manager of Go Shared Services, a collaboration between WODC and several other councils outside of Oxfordshire to centralise procurement, finance, human resources and payroll.

She said: “It’s reinvesting money back into Oxfordshire.

"Rather than it going off and funding other projects elsewhere it can be retained locally.

“There are risks involved but we do feel they’re outweighed by the benefits.”