Authority to consult on council tax
Green Councillor and MSP Mark Ruskell has welcomed a commitment given by Stirling Council to consult on Council Tax options as part of its forthcoming budget.
The commitment to consult on options to raise Council Tax by up to three per cent was given by Chief Finance Officer Jim Boyle at a recent Stirling Council meeting in answer to a question posed by Councillor Ruskell.
The First Minister announced in March this year that the four highest Council Tax bands would increase automatically across every council, however the revenue raised will be directed to national spending priorities to close the attainment gap in schools across the whole of Scotland.
The option for councils to increase Council Tax across all bands by up to three per cent for local spending priorities was also announced at the time by the First Minister.
Mr Boyle acknowledged that options to increase the Council Tax had already been raised repeatedly by the public throughout the council’s Priority Based Budgeting process, but that ultimately any rise would be a political decision for councillors to make.
Councillor Ruskell said,“The SNP have tinkered around the edges of a failed Council Tax system they promised a decade ago to replace, centralising local revenue for national spending plans and capping the amount that councils can raise to protect frontline services.
“I’ll be using every opportunity at Holyrood with my Green MSPs colleagues to fight for a replacement, but in the meantime councils are stuck with the system and will have hard choices to make once again about spending priorities in just a few months time.
“For the first time since 2007 Stirling Council will at least have the option to raise Council Tax by a modest amount, I’m pleased this will be put into the budget consultation mix so when the debate happens on what frontline services are being slated for cuts then taxpayers can see what level of rise would be required to protect them under the current system.”
A local poll of Stirling residents last year showed that nearly three quarters of those surveyed would back an increase in Council Tax to protect frontline services.
SNP Group Leader on Stirling Council, Councillor Scott Farmer, however, said:“The hypocrisy of Labour and the Greens in berating a system that seeks to redistribute wealth to help the most vulnerable in our communities beggars belief. The SNP Scottish Government embarked on a nation-wide consultation on council tax reform that involved contributions from political parties as well as local authorities. These contributions are what helped form the SNP’s council tax reform policy - a policy that ensures that those who have the broadest shoulders, bear the greater burden in order to protect our vital public services.
“UK Government austerity cuts to Scotland’s budget has meant that these continue to be challenging times for our local authorities. For Mr Ruskell branding Scottish Government investment into services such as health and social care, education, and social security as ‘centralisation’is nothing but daft political spin. I am glad that we have a Government who believes that you should have the same opportunities and protections no matter what part of the country you’re from.”