THE Finance Secretary has admitted he cannot guarantee the SNP manifesto pledge to cap council tax rises at 3 per cent.
Derek Mackay told MSPs he was relying on a “partnership” with local authorities, not statute, to minimise rises next year when the nine-year old council tax freeze comes to an end.
Properties in Bands E to H will automatically pay more from April 2017, as the bands are being adjusted to make the tax more progressive, raising £111m more for councils.
Councils will also be able to raise council tax across all bands.
The SNP manifesto stated: “We will cap annual increases at 3 per cent.”
However at the Finance Committee, Mr Mackay said it remained “at the discretion of local authorities as to how much they raise the council tax”.
Green MSP Andy Wightman asked Mr Mackay how he could enforce a 3 per cent cap.
Mr Mackay said he was in a “dialogue” with the council umbrella group Cosla “to see if we can arrive at a partnership deal” which included a 3 per cent cap.
He said: “I’m not proposing sanctions or impositions or anything else other than a partnership approach. However if they don’t accept the deal I will have to revisit the position.”
He said he had written to councils with funding offers and expected replies by January 13.
“This government was elected on a manifesto proposition to cap council tax at 3 per cent.
“The government is within its rights to set out an expectation of what we want to happen.”
Although free to raise the tax, councils will try to avoid doing so before May’s local elections.
Mr Mackay also denied there was "double counting" in last week’s Budget for 2017-18, after independent groups said some cash had been counted for both council and health spending.
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