Council chiefs should be allowed to use a £50million fund set up to help struggling town centres to cut business rates, according to retailers.

The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) wants to see the town centre fund – announced by Finance Secretary Derek Mackay in his draft 2019/20 Budget – being used to reduce the financial burden on local shops.

It made the plea in a submission sent to Mr Mackay and MSPs on Holyrood’s finance and economy committees ahead of more detailed scrutiny of the Budget proposals by the Parliament.

In his Budget statement, Mr Mackay said the £50m fund would help town centres to diversify and develop, ensuring they are “thriving, sustainable places where people choose to spend their time.”

The SRC described this as a “promising move” which should help to create “modern and diverse retail destinations.”

However, it also argued that council chiefs should be allowed to use the funding to cut business rates in their area.

While local authorities already have the power to cut business rates, neither Renfrewshire Council nor East Renfrewshire Council has decided to do so during 2018/19.

The SRC has called on ministers to “redouble their efforts to get more local authorities to capitalise on this opportunity to support high streets and town centres.”

A spokesperson added: “Reforms to council tax which increase the tax burden on those on modest or average earnings is likely to negatively impact on consumer spending.”

Reforms to make the tax system “more modern and competitive” are also urged, with the SRC complaining the current business rates set-up “only seems to function through an increasing myriad of exemptions and reliefs.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said Mr Mackay had put forward a “budget of stimulus and stability.”

She added: “We recognise the challenges faced by retailers, which is why the Budget also includes more than £5billion of capital investment to grow and modernise infrastructure, including a new £50million town centre fund to support the future of our high streets.”

A spokeswoman for Renfrewshire Council said it is important to look at new ways of regenerating town centres.

She added: “We’re investing significantly in Paisley town centre, with more than £100million to create a thriving, social space that attracts visitors, as well as opening up opportunities for local people to live and work in the area.

“We want to make sure the whole of Renfrewshire benefits from our town centre investment, which is why we’re investing in events and a visitor strategy across the whole of the area.

“We’re also in the process of developing applications for regeneration funding for projects in both Renfrew and Johnstone town centres during 2019.”