In the run-up to the Council elections in Scotland in May, can I suggest that the Liberal Democrats offer voters a real solution to the shortfall in Council budgets which has had such a devastating effect on local services.
We should be campaigning for a realignment of the council tax bands to bring them into line with the market value of houses and asking people in all bands, except the lowest, to pay more. This would be a relatively simple and fair way to raise the extra £250m the Councils say they need just to keep services as they are.
Before the Scottish Government published its budget, COSLA the local councils umbrella organisation, called for an increase in their funding by £1bn, just to stand still, and preferably a £1.6bn increase to “thrive.” The budget did indeed give them an extra £1bn, or a 6 per cent increase, but it did not include money for wage increases or increases in National Insurance or the increasing demand for services (eg home care). It left them £370m short.
Last month, in the final budget statement, the finance secretary Kate Forbes, found an extra £120m. She suggested this was equivalent of a 4 per cent rise in council tax, hinting there was no need for councils to increase taxes in an election year. This is an attempt to go back to the old SNP policy of freezing council tax which has led to years of unnecessary austerity in local services.
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