Give us the powers to raise taxes, say town hall bosses

COUNCIL chiefs have demanded new powers to impose local taxes without having to obtain permission from holyrood.

Cosla, the umbrella organisation for Scottish councils, is drawing up plans for a funding model that would ‘ensure local government is empowered to deploy resources locally without government restriction’.

The proposals, yet to be agreed by council leaders or considered by ministers, include a set‑up where ‘councils would have the ability to raise their own revenue’ and have the ‘freedom to explore and imple‑ ment discretionary taxes’.

A draft document suggests they could boost revenue from income tax and VAT, but also suggests widening powers to vary national levies such as landfill tax and build‑ ings transaction tax.

Councils could also introduce a range of local charges in addition to the workplace parking levy and tourist tax.

The paper, drawn up for council leaders, indicates a new framework could be in place for the next par‑ liament – but any attempt to add to the local tax burden is likely to prove hugely controversial. The Scottish Government said it would not welcome the radical tax plans.

Cosla insists it has been driven to think radically as councils look to plug a £300million budget black hole, which has left them having to tackle ‘draconian’ cuts to core services, ‘dreadful’ roads and a social care ‘ticking time bomb’.

Cosla’s resources spokesman Gail Macgregor told the herald on Sunday that years of under‑invest‑ ment for councils is taking its toll.

She said: ‘Investments in roads infrastructure ten years ago might have been a priority – but that budget has decreased.

‘We can see it from the state of the roads. To reverse that, we need additional investment.’ She added: ‘We now need additional money to almost catch up with all the cuts that have been previously made as well. The reality is that demand is changing – social care is a prime example, it’s a proper ticking time bomb.’

The Scottish Government has estimated an extra £683million will be needed by 2023‑24 to meet addi‑ tional social care demands.

Councils’ day‑to‑day spending on roads and transport fell almost 12 per cent from £432million in 2017‑18 to £381million in 2018‑19.

The Government has said local authorities can raise council tax by up to 4.84 per cent this year.

Miss Macgregor says that most will put it up by, or close to, the full amount. She added: ‘If every coun‑ cil raises tax by 4.84 per cent, that will raise an additional £135million across Scotland – but that’s money councils need to be able to make local decisions on and spend locally. It’s not a balancing figure.’

She added councils were being ordered to implement more Scot‑ tish Government priorities with shrinking budgets – such as meet‑ ing nursery expansion commit‑ ments, which Cosla predicts will cost an extra £121million from authorities’ budgets next year.

Between 2013‑14 and 2019‑20, total revenue funding for councils has fallen by 6 per cent in real terms. Miss Macgregor said an increasingly centralised agenda made it more difficult to have ‘flex‑ ible local options where you can get the best bang for your buck’.

A Scottish Government spokes‑ man reiterated its opposition for blanket powers for local authorities to introduce new taxes.

he said: ‘We are, however, already working on delivering greater devo‑ lution of powers to local govern‑ ment through a range of measures, including delivering a package of local tax reforms which, should they be agreed by parliament, will deliver the most significant empow‑ erment of local authorities since devolution.’

comment – Page 16

‘It’s a proper ticking time bomb’