Use land to fund public services

ANDREW Whitaker’s article on local government funding doesn’t consider the wider question of how we fund public services (How do we make a council tax fair, State of the nation, May 7).

The SNP took a giant step at its spring conference in passing unanimously the policy to examine our land as a source of funding.

How we steward our land is key to Scotland’s future. Annual ground rent can raise significantly more funds than all UK, Scottish and council taxation presently does and provide a decent universal citizen’s income while drastically reducing the tax burden on almost everyone including Scottish-based business. Part of the annual ground rent could be charged by councils so fiscal responsibility can be devolved to local authorities.

The present system has created a multi-billion-pound industry of taxation avoidance, evasion and regulation which drains enterprise and money from public funds. A simple annual ground rent treats every owner of similar land types on the same basis so fairness is a given. It also has certainty of collection and the amount charged. By contrast, the current systems based on the fluctuations of wealth and income expose public service funds to the vagaries of global markets and manipulators and extremely inaccurate forecasts by economists.

Annual ground rent will substantially increase the contribution of public and private landowners who have large land holdings and encourage them to dispose of that which fails to generate sufficient income.

The failure of successive public-sector owners to steward the land in their control will produce the rude awakening required to transform our land and the public revenue it will generate.