TWO issues dominated this week’s First Minister’s Questions. Both are issues where Greens have been calling for clarity ahead of May’s election, so that people know what they’re voting for.
The cross-party Commission on Local Tax Reform which was established by the Scottish Government and which also involved COSLA, the Greens, Labour and the Liberal Democrats (the Tories having refused to take part) was never going to resolve every detail about how to replace the Council Tax. But its remit was clear, to examine alternatives that would deliver a fairer system of local taxation. It didn’t settle on a single alternative, recognising that there were several options still on the table. But in the first few pages of its report, it set out the reasons why our antique system of local tax is so broken. The report stated that: “The most striking consensus from all of the evidence that we received is that this cannot go on, and we have come to agree that local tax now therefore needs substantial reform… the opportunity for reform cannot be missed again.”
The facts are pretty damning. Council Tax is based on valuations more than a quarter of a century old. Most households are in the wrong band. Properties in the highest band are worth on average 15 times those in the lowest, but they pay only three times as much. As this situation has dragged on, housing has become ever more unaffordable for many people. Those in the highest value homes, who have seen their equity grow relentlessly, are sitting back on that unearned wealth while huge numbers of young people wonder if they’ll ever be able to afford a home.
Last month, the Greens proposed a number of modest tweaks to local taxation as short-term emergency measures to reverse the cuts imposed on the Scottish Budget by the UK Government. Achievable immediately, these would have raised as much extra revenue as Labour’s 1p income tax plan, but without the implausible requirement of setting up an entirely new rebate mechanism in the space of a few weeks.
I didn’t really expect the Scottish Government to agree to our proposals. But what took my breath away was that they then took elements of these modest short-term measures, watered them down and announced them as a substitute for actually replacing the Council Tax.
I know there are some who think that the SNP can do no wrong and to be fair, when they do the right thing I always try to give them credit where it’s due. But honestly, this just isn’t the bold agenda Scotland needs right now. Council Tax has had its day and I don’t think we can afford yet another term at Holyrood in which we just let it limp along. Greens will continue to campaign for its wholesale replacement, with a modern and efficient system which empowers local government and helps build a fairer, more equal society.
The second issue in need of clarity which came up this week was our old favourite, fracking. Sadly, both Labour and the LibDems are now muddying the waters.
Labour were open to fracking, but wanted to outflank the SNP on the issue, so called for the question to be decided by local referendums. Then this week, their Holyrood leader said they were just outright opposed, only to be followed by their activists claiming on social media that the referendum policy still stands. How you can have a referendum on something you’ve banned is beyond me.
The LibDems haven’t been much clearer. They gave it the green light when they ran the UK Government’s energy department. Then, their Scottish leader said they wanted to ban it, only to be over-ruled by his members at their rather depleted Scottish conference, who agreed that the temporary moratorium should be lifted. Quite what they’ll have to say in the coming months is now anyone’s guess.
The First Minister clearly wanted to prove that Labour wouldn’t take yes for an answer. Would fracking be banned? “It ain’t going to happen” she said. I know that there are many in the SNP who have campaigned persistently for a full, permanent ban on all unconventional gas extraction in defiance of the energy minister Fergus Ewing who sees it as an opportunity. If the policy is now fully against these developments, it’s surely time to scrap the costly and lengthy consultation and research into the implications of going ahead. If it ain’t going to happen, why do we need to research the clean-up options for fracked sites, for example?
On these issues, as on many others, Greens will push relentlessly for the clarity and the boldness of action that Scotland needs, bringing a constructive challenge to make the country the fairer, greener place it can become.
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