ANDY Wightman yesterday confirmed the Scottish Greens will put forward “a full, bold proposal for local tax reform” ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections.
The land-reform campaigner and lead Green candidate for the Lothians said his party had consistently argued for a system that would give councils more freedom to raise funds.
He spoke out as delegates met for the Scottish Greens’ spring conference in Edinburgh and in response to a challenge by Local Government Minister Marco Biagi for opposition parties to set out alternative proposals after criticisms last week of the SNP’s decision to keep a reformed council tax.
Wightman has led a campaign to make better use of more vacant and derelict land, and at stage two of the Land Reform Bill the party lodged amendments requiring such land to be brought into the valuation system so it can be taxed. Estimates suggest the move would raise £300 million of extra revenue. Ministers are currently considering the move before the Bill returns to the Scottish Parliament for its final reading this month.
“The Scottish Greens have consistently argued that the local tax system must give councils the freedom to make their own choices on how they invest in public services, and the ability to raise the finance they need,” said Wightman.
“We have already put forward clear proposals on taxing derelict and vacant land, and will set out our full, bold and progressive vision for local tax reform in the coming weeks.”
He added: “We will make a manifesto commitment that we will stick to. Scottish Greens will abolish the council tax and replace it with a flexible and fair system that puts real choices back in the hands of local people, that protects essential public services and rebuilds trust in local government.”
Wightman’s comments also followed comments made by Maggie Chapman, the Scottish Greens’ co-convener, during her speech to the conference on Saturday in which she said the SNP Government’s refusal to “grasp the thistle” of local taxation made it impossible for Scotland to “cushion the blow of Tory cuts”.
Over the weekend, Biagi called on the other party leaders to “ditch the posturing” and detail their plans after the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the council tax changes last week.
Under the plans the four highest council tax bands should pay more with the average band E household paying around £2 more per week from April 2017, with those in the highest band paying an extra £10 a week – an average of £517 a year. Levels in less expensive bands A to D properties would be unchanged.
She also announced the council tax freeze – in place since 2007-08 – will end in April 2017, with local authorities able to increase the charge by a maximum of three per cent a year.
Biagi said: “Earlier this week, we set out plans to reform local taxation by making the council tax fairer, protecting low-income families and raising £100 million for schools – but all the opposition parties have had to offer is tired rhetoric and a complete avoidance of any detail.
“If any of the opposition parties want to start being taken even remotely seriously, they need to be clear with people in Scotland what their own plans are – and accept that simply carping from the sidelines isn’t going to cut it.
“As far back as 2009, Labour commissioned a report to decide what their policy should be on local tax reform – and to this day, it still hasn’t been published. In the last seven years Labour in Scotland have had four leaders and fought six elections - but haven’t had a single credible, detailed plan on local tax.”
A spokesman for Scottish Labour said: “This is laughable from a minister who has broken the central promise his party was elected on: to scrap the council tax.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone said: “It’s rich of the SNP to make demands like these, when its own council tax plans were a straight lift from Scottish Conservative-commissioned recommendations barely a month ago.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said his party would set out proposals for local taxation in the run-up to May, which he said would be “fair, progressive and give local democracy back to communities”.
Carolyn Leckie: Consensus is required to reform our tax system
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