COSLA brand Nicola Sturgeon's council tax reform proposals a 'damp squib'

Local government umbrella body COSLA has dismissed a proposed shake-up of the council tax system put forward by Nicola Sturgeon as “nothing more than fairly poor cover for a very crude power grab”.

The First Minister announced earlier today that the council tax freeze will end next year with local authorities able to increase it by a maximum of three per cent each year from April 2017.

Rates for those in the four highest council tax bands will rise if the SNP is re-elected in May with the estimated £100m a year raised invested in schools through future government settlements, Sturgeon said.

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However, COSLA president Councillor David O’Neill has labelled the proposals “an offence against local democracy, local decision making and local choice”.

“The proposed cap on council tax which seems nothing more than a direct lift from England and the central direction of revenue raised is another act of folly from government,” he added. “This is not an attack on education spend – but it should be councils that make that decision not the Scottish Government.”

The three per cent cap is focused on “ensuring that the rapid and significant rises we saw in the past do not return”, Sturgeon said during a visit to Lasswade High School Centre.

Using this power could allow local authorities to raise up to £70m to help fund local services, according to the SNP leader.

Details of the proposed shake-up come less than three months on from the Commission on Local Tax Reform declaring that the council tax “must end”.

The commission outlined three alternatives that could be used at a local level: a tax on property, a tax on land and a tax on income, and suggested a combination tax might be best. It also advocated setting rates at a local level “wherever possible” to offer greater flexibility and local democracy.

“They have completely ignored the good work and recommendations of the Commission on Local Tax Reform,” added O’Neill. “Having served on this commission in good faith, I am embarrassed about today’s proposals as must be the local government minister.

“What we have before us today is a damp squib. This is nothing more than fairly poor cover for a very crude power grab, they haven’t even bothered to change the name.

“Well I have an alternative name for them, it should be called the Scottish Government tax because it is now so centrally controlled that to even have the word council associated with it is an insult to councils and disingenuous to communities.”

The umbrella body’s finance spokesperson, Councillor Kevin Keenan, accused the Scottish Government of “putting self-interest ahead of real change” in terms of the proposals put forward.

He said: “What today boils down to is that they have done nothing of substance, they have taken a system made it more complicated and less transparent for individuals and more complex for councils to administer. They have muddied the waters.”

Meanwhile, UNISON Scotland suggested that the proposals outlined were simply “tinkering with the present system” as the trade union, whilst welcoming an end to the council tax freeze, condemned the three per cent cap suggested as an alternative.

“Scotland’s councils need to be given back democratic control of their local services,” said Dave Watson, UNISON head of policy and public affairs. “They are democratically accountable to local people and know the needs of people living in their local areas.”