SNP promises a further five-year freeze on council tax

14 Apr 11
First Minister Alex Salmond has launched the Scottish National Party election manifesto with a promise to freeze the council tax for the full five years of the next Holyrood term if his party is returned to government
By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh

14 April 2011

First Minister Alex Salmond has launched the Scottish National Party election manifesto with a promise to freeze the council tax for the full five years of the next Holyrood term if his party is returned to government.

On top of the current freeze, agreed by Salmond’s minority administration and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in 2007, this would mean Scottish council tax levels would stay unchanged for nine years.

Salmond will hope that the promise opens up clear ground between the SNP and its rivals in an increasingly close-fought campaign for the May 5 election.

The Conservatives backed the 2007 freeze from the outset, and are seeking electoral credit for their support. The Liberal Democrats were more reluctant supporters.

But it was Labour that put the issue seriously into play, announcing early in the campaign that it would mirror an SNP commitment to continue the freeze for two more years. The party had previously said that the council tax needed to rise by 2% to safeguard jobs and services.

Salmond has now capped this with a further five-year freeze, offset by efficiency savings, subsidy from the Scottish government and an unspecified extension of the current one-year freeze on public sector pay.

‘There has to be a social contract where the government says we understand the pressure on family budgets,’ Salmond said. The freeze currently costs the Scottish Government £210m a year.

The SNP remains committed to replacing the council tax with a local income tax, though its plans were stalled in the last Parliament. The manifesto promises a new scheme which would be put forward for approval by voters at the following elections.

Public finances have also loomed large in other parties’ campaigns. The Tories have tried to distinguish their council tax policy with a promise of local referendums to allow voters to veto any proposed rises above the rate of inflation.

Labour, meanwhile, has welcomed a BBC poll on voter priorities that put its pledge of reduced waiting times for cancer operations in top spot, while the Greens announced a £100m-a-year programme of free insulation for every house in Scotland. The Liberal Democrats promised £250m of new money for home energy efficiency.

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