BREXIT, and the work going into the preparations and negotiations in London is having a knock-on effect on local government, councillors in Swindon were told.

Members of Swindon Borough Council's corporate and resources oversight and scrutiny committee received a briefing from the authority's chief financial officer, Mick Bowden into plans to allow councils to keep more of the business rates it raises.

At the moment, each local council can keep 50 per cent of the money paid to t in business rates above a certain threshold that it must contribute to central government funds.

There is a plan to increase the amount authorities can keep to 75 per cent from April 2020

But Mr Bowden told councillors that much of that was dependent on a major spending review by all government departments: "We were expecting that review this financial year, but events elsewhere are taking up a lot of time of ministers and their civil servants, so now we are expecting it to take place after the summer."

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will take part and work out how much money will be allocated to all the country's councils, and then work out a way of dividing it up.