By David Scott
18 February 2010
Local authorities throughout Scotland have frozen council tax bills for the third successive year.
The decision by individual councils
not to increase bills in 2010/11 is in line with the Scottish Government’s tax freeze policy, introduced following its election as a minority administration at Holyrood in 2007.
Councils prepared to keep tax bills at existing levels were offered a share of an extra £70m made available by Finance Secretary John Swinney as part of the local government funding settlement.
By the beginning of this week, all but three of Scotland’s 32 councils had endorsed the freeze policy.
Two of the remaining councils – Angus and Shetland – agreed to it on February 17 and Western Isles was set to approve a no-increase recommendation on February 18.
Council tax figures at Band D level range from £1,024 in the Western Isles to £1,230 in Aberdeen. The figure for Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest council, is £1,213.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘We welcome news of all those local authorities that have agreed to freeze council tax.
‘Once all councils have set their rates, the finance secretary will bring a further order to Parliament to allow the extra funding to be issued.’
Professor Arthur Midwinter, a local government finance expert and an adviser to Labour in the Scottish Parliament, said the freeze, combined with under-funding, had led to cuts in services amounting to £285m.
He added: ‘For the third year in a row jobs will be lost and that is damaging to the economy. I think it’s also a regressive freeze and ought to be got rid of as soon as possible.’
But a Scottish National Party councillor on the Holyrood finance committee, Joe Fitzpatrick, said: ‘As Scotland works its way out of the recession, hard-pressed families will welcome the extra pounds in their pocket.’
The SNP pledged to freeze council tax bills until a local income tax was introduced. However, the income tax plan has been shelved.
18 February 2010
Local authorities throughout Scotland have frozen council tax bills for the third successive year.
The decision by individual councils
not to increase bills in 2010/11 is in line with the Scottish Government’s tax freeze policy, introduced following its election as a minority administration at Holyrood in 2007.
Councils prepared to keep tax bills at existing levels were offered a share of an extra £70m made available by Finance Secretary John Swinney as part of the local government funding settlement.
By the beginning of this week, all but three of Scotland’s 32 councils had endorsed the freeze policy.
Two of the remaining councils – Angus and Shetland – agreed to it on February 17 and Western Isles was set to approve a no-increase recommendation on February 18.
Council tax figures at Band D level range from £1,024 in the Western Isles to £1,230 in Aberdeen. The figure for Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest council, is £1,213.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘We welcome news of all those local authorities that have agreed to freeze council tax.
‘Once all councils have set their rates, the finance secretary will bring a further order to Parliament to allow the extra funding to be issued.’
Professor Arthur Midwinter, a local government finance expert and an adviser to Labour in the Scottish Parliament, said the freeze, combined with under-funding, had led to cuts in services amounting to £285m.
He added: ‘For the third year in a row jobs will be lost and that is damaging to the economy. I think it’s also a regressive freeze and ought to be got rid of as soon as possible.’
But a Scottish National Party councillor on the Holyrood finance committee, Joe Fitzpatrick, said: ‘As Scotland works its way out of the recession, hard-pressed families will welcome the extra pounds in their pocket.’
The SNP pledged to freeze council tax bills until a local income tax was introduced. However, the income tax plan has been shelved.
