Scots willing to pay more for services

Poll: Two-thirds in Scotland would give councils extra if spent locally

Two in three people would be willing to pay more council tax if they were certain the money was to be spent on local services, a poll suggests.

The f i nding i s contained in a survey of attitudes towards local aut hority f unding and organisation by pollsters Mori for the Commission on Strengthening Local Democracy.

Council taxes have been frozen since the SNP came to government in 2007.

The poll of 1,006 adults also shows that 54% of people think central gov- ernment controls more than it used to and that only 49% think councils have enough money for the services needed in communities.

Eight in 10 people want more say in how services are run, while only one in every three feel part of how decisions are made.

Commission chairman David O’Neill, who is president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, said: “This work undertaken by Mori is about getting to the heart of whatthe people of Scotland think matters, not the things that politicians tell them that matter. It is one part of our bigger commitment to ask some new questions about why doing things locally matters, and what stronger local democracy in Scotland might look like.”

Hundreds of people have come forward with ideas for the commission, he said.

“But it is hugely encouraging that both our call for evidence and our polling work are already showing that, right across the country, there is a growing appetite for a serious discussion about why l ocal services and local accountability matter and how we strengthen them in Scotland’s future.”