Tory MSP slams Nats over council tax hike
A Tory MSP has hit out at SNP plans to hike council taxes next year.
Central list MSP Graham Simpson said the proposals to increase bills in the top four bands were an attack on local accountability.
The plans could see an increase of up to £500 per year in the highest band.
Mr Simpson, who is also a councillor for East Kilbride West, and colleague Alexander Stewart were the only MSPs to vote against the plans in the Scottish Parliament’s local government and communities committee last week.
Three SNP and one Labour member voted in favour with a Green abstaining.
Mr Simpson said: “The SNP are forcing council tax rises on people in order to pay for their national school attainment fund.
“They can’t legally take council tax away from local authorities so they will then cut grants to claw the money back.
“People will see their council tax bills rise but it will be nothing to do with the council - a point well made by South Lanarkshire Council leader Eddie McAvoy last week.
“He and other Labour councillors need to get on to their MSP group sharpish so that when this comes before the full parliament they do the right thing and back local democracy.”
Mr Simpson added: “When I quizzed finance secretary Derek Mackay on it he was unable to guarantee that councils would not see grants cut by more than the extra council tax.
“We can assume that some councils, including possibly South Lanarkshire, will lose out heavily as a result.
“The basic principle of tax is that it should be set by those who collect it. That’s not what is happening here.”
Last week Eddie McAvoy accused the Scottish Government of forcing councils to do their “dirty work” by making statutory changes to council tax.
He said any extra revenue collected by the council tax hikes will effectively be removed by a cut to local authorities’ annual grant.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Where we have the powers to do so we are making taxation fairer and more proportionate to the ability to pay, while also raising additional revenue.
“That is why we are proposing progressive reforms to local taxation which will, over the lifetime of this parliament, raise an additional £500 million to invest in raising educational attainment.
“Our reforms to the council tax will protect household incomes, make local taxation fairer and ensure local authorities continue to be properly funded while becoming more accountable.
“Local authorities will keep every penny of the council tax that is raised in their areas and there will be no change for three out of four Scottish households in terms of how much council tax they pay.”