Scottish Greens demand government scraps Council Tax following strong public support
The Scottish Greens are demanding that the Scottish Government stops dragging its feet and finally scraps the unfair Council Tax.
The call comes after the Government published the results of its public consultation on the future of the Council Tax, showing 82% in favour of reform.
Most taxpayers currently pay the wrong rate of Council Tax, with poorer households often paying more than they should and the richest paying far less. This is because property values have not been updated since 1991, when the system was quickly introduced as a replacement for Thatcher’s hated Poll Tax.
In recent years the Scottish Greens have secured important changes including higher rates for million pound mansions and for second and holiday homes. These reforms have raised hundreds of millions of pounds for local services such as schools and social care, as well as helping to tackle housing shortages in rural and island communities.
However, attempts by Green MSPs to fully update property values and replace the system entirely have previously been rejected by other parties. This is despite the SNP’s own manifesto promising to ‘scrap the unfair Council Tax’ when they first formed a government almost twenty years ago in 2007.
Responding to the report, Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer said: “The results could not be clearer, people want to see the Scottish Government deliver the Greens’ proposed reform of the unfair Council Tax.
“It is absurd to stick with a system where most people are paying the wrong tax bill. This has left many lower income households paying too much, while those in larger homes pay far, far less than they should. And it's all because the properties values the Council Tax is based on haven’t been updated since before I was born.
“The best thing we could do is scrap the council tax system entirely and replace it with a fairer system. That will take time, so the work needs to start now. It is already decades overdue.
“The Scottish Greens have made changes to the current system to raise more money for local services like schools and social care by having the owners of mansions and holiday homes pay more than regular homeowners. Those changes have protected the jobs of teachers, classroom assistants and other public sector workers, but the SNP have rejected our attempts to fix the system as a whole. That cannot continue.
“Council services are cracking under huge financial pressure right now and we are all suffering for it, but it's our children and those who rely on social care who are suffering the most. The public want the Scottish Government to fix this problem and Green MSPs are ready to help them do it."
Scottish Greens councillor for Glasgow, Jon Molyneux said:
“The Scottish Greens agree with councils, trade unions and now the overwhelming majority of respondents to this consultation that the current system of Council Tax must end.
“There is a clear mandate for a modern system of property tax, that is much fairer on those who pay it and delivers much needed investment for local services.
“The Scottish Government says it wants broad consensus before making any major changes but while that may be desirable, it is not necessary. All that is needed is a progressive majority of MSPs and the political courage to see change through.
“The Scottish Greens can ensure the first part of that equation; the question remains whether the First Minister will provide the latter.
“If the First Minister really wants ambitious public service reform he should use the Council Tax Bill already planned for this session of Parliament to finally deliver what the SNP first promised almost 20 years ago.”