The Big Question: Is Council Tax so Unjust That We Want to Abolish It?

The Herald › March 06, 2004

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Summary

Improbable as it might seem, local taxation can be the stuff of drama. Can't Pay, Won't Pay, the title of a play by Dario Fo, was hijacked by poll-tax protesters whose opposition led to the abolition of the poll tax. The council tax, introduced in 1991, took its place. The prospect of the placards being dusted down helps explain the SNP's decision to produce an alternative system for collecting local taxes which, it says, would be fairer. It believes its plans for a local income tax are a vote-winner.

Council tax rates in Scotland are not the hot issue they have been in England, where they could become explosive. A revaluation of properties is due there in 2007, possibly triggering massive increases in council tax and protests. There are no plans for a revaluation in Scotland. Jack McConnell, the first minister, is committed only to a review of local government finance, an exercise that could take years. The system of local government financing is a reserved Westminster matter and Scotland could follow where England leads, either with unpopular, inflation-busting council tax hikes or implementing a UK-wide alternative such as local income tax.