Call for reform of council tax

A think tank has proposed that councils should be given full control of local taxation.

Reform Scotland said there should be a major overhaul of local governance in Scotland, including giving local councils the ability to remove and introduce levies. This comes as the residents of Perth and Kinross prepare to vote in the local authority election on May 4.

A spokesperson for Reform Scotland said: “The way that local taxation operates at present takes no real account of local priorities because local councillors have no genuine control over local taxation.

“Although the council tax freeze has been lifted, increases have been capped by the Scottish government, just as they were in the past by Conservative governments led by MargaretThatcher.

“The only way local priorities and circumstances can be taken into account is if council tax is fully devolved.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said:“We have committed to a journey of reform to make local taxation more progressive and local authorities can already reduce non-domestic rates as they choose.

“Our Community Empowerment Act puts additional powers into the hands of communities to hold their local authority to account and our proposals for education would see parents and teachers taking greater responsibility for their schools.

“We expect to see at least 1% of each local authority budget decided by local communities.

“It is important that we do not just consider what power local authorities should have, but how local authorities can transfer more of their power to local communities.”