Politics Morning Star
Reform councils, reform council tax, say Scottish Greens
LOCAL government reform must fix the “broken funding model” and spell the end for the council tax, according to Scottish Greens. Speaking ahead of the party’s conference in Inverness this weekend, Sco
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Speaking ahead of the party’s conference in Inverness this weekend, Scottish Green co-leader Ross Greer hit out at the council tax, which is still based on 1991 property valuations and remains in place despite an SNP pledge to scrap it on coming to power 19 years ago.
Branding the tax a “relic of the past,” Mr Greer said:
“Our schools are desperately short of staff and our social care system is on its knees. That is the result of a completely broken funding model.
“It’s a nonsense that most people are paying the wrong rate of tax because successive governments have refused to fix the system.
“Council tax is based on property values from 1991, making it a relic of the past that hits poorer people the hardest while letting the wealthiest off with an absolute steal.”
In a direct plea to the First Minister, who hopes to secure cross-party support for an overhaul of a range of public bodies including councils and health boards by Christmas, the West of Scotland MSP added: “Tweaking the edges of a broken system isn’t enough.
“If the First Minister wants Green support for his plans, he needs to work with us to scrap and replace council tax for good.
“Someone born when the SNP first promised to scrap council tax is now almost 20 years old. That’s not good enough.
“If the Scottish government is serious about reforming councils, then it needs to get serious about reforming how they are funded.
“We cannot keep reshuffling the structures but leave the same broken tax in place.”