24 October 2008
By David Scott
Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney has promised a council tax freeze in Scotland for the second successive year despite local authority fears about new financial pressures.
Swinney told the Scottish National Party's annual conference in Perth that a further freeze on council tax in 2009/10 would help those facing rises in household bills during the economic crisis.
He said: 'Next year the Scottish Government will be making more funds available to freeze the council tax across the country.
'When other bills are rising, the people of Scotland can rely on the Scottish Government to freeze their council tax.'
SNP ministers gave an extra £70m to councils who were prepared to freeze the council tax last year and are expected to provide a similar sum next year as part of a three-year funding settlement.
However, a number of individual councils have warned that extra financial pressures such as providing free school meals for primary school children, inflation and the problems of the credit crunch will mean that the settlement is inadequate.
Scottish councils are currently locked in a pay dispute with the public sector unions, which have rejected an offer of 3% this year and 2.5% in 2009/10, leading to uncertainty over their wage bill.
A spokesman for Steven Purcell, Labour leader of the Glasgow City Council, the biggest in the country, said it would be 'well nigh impossible' to deliver a council tax freeze next year without an addition to the funding settlement. The spokesman added: 'Only councils can freeze council tax and it would be very difficult for us to do that with last year's settlement because of the new financial circumstances we live in.'
Pat Watters, president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities said his organisation would be happy to discuss a potential council tax freeze with the Scottish Government and make an assessment of whether the funds available were adequate to cover service provision to communities.
PFoct2008
