MOST Scots would be willing to pay more council tax in return for better schools and more care for the elderly, a poll has found.

The survey of more than 1000 people comes as councils renew their campaign for the freeze on council tax, now its seventh year, to be ended.

People also want more locally tailored services and have shown a hostility to growing centralisation, according to the poll for a group set up by the umbrella body, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla).

It also showed many have a poor understanding of where the money comes from to pay for local services.

The poll was commissioned from Ipsos-MORI by the Commission on Strengthening Local Democracy, which was set up by the Cosla to seek a new deal for local government whatever the outcome of this year's independence referendum.

The survey carried out last month asked respondents to say whether they strongly agree/tend to agree or tend to disagree/strongly disagree with statements.

On the statement "I would be willing to pay more council tax if I was certain the money raised was spent on local services such as schools and care for older people" the responses were 65% in agreement, with 33% disagreeing.

Another proposition was that "councils have enough money to deliver the services my community needs," prompting 49% agreement and 44% disagreement.

On services being tailored to local demand there was a strong view in favour. On a choice between local services being delivered the same was across Scotland versus these being delivered according to the needs of local people, the later was backed by 71% to 27%.

But 50% said their council tax paid for more than a quarter of the spend, compared to 28% who thought it was less. The actual figure is 15%.

Cosla President Councillor David O'Neill said: "This Commission is all about starting a debate. When it was launched we said that we would listen to communities and that their views would be at the heart of all our work.

"This work is about getting to the heart of what the people of Scotland think matters, not the things politicians tell them matter. It is one part of our bigger commitment to ask new questions about why doing things locally matters, and what stronger local democracy might look like."

Cllr O'Neill added: "Scotland has never tried anything like this before. We are breaking new ground by offering a mature and evidence based debate about the kind of democracy we want, regardless of the outcome of the Referendum in September.

The Scottish Government insisted it had fully funded the council tax freeze for the last six years, providing much needed financial relief to some of the vulnerable groups identified in this survey, such as pensioners.

A spokesman for Local Government Minister Derek Mackay added: "The council tax freeze is a popular policy, one which was in the SNP's manifesto, and which people voted for."

But Labour's Sarah Boyack said: "This poll shows a clear rejection of the SNP's centralisation of local services. The SNP's poor showing in council by-elections shows people want their councils to be focused on protecting local services and supporting local employment rather than the cuts agenda imposed by the SNP and the Tories."

The Liberal Democrats said the survey echoed the party's long-standing view that local decisions should be taken by people in the community for its benefit.