POLITICALLY the most interesting, and possibly the smartest, element of Nicola Sturgeon's first Programme for Government is the creation of commission to consider alternatives to the council tax.
In their 2011 manifesto, the SNP promised to bring forward proposals for a fairer system of local government finance within the lifetime of the present parliament. But the indications were nothing would be done until closer to the 2016 election.
For much of that time, there have been stories of painful cuts to council services, and local authorities will be quick to blame the council tax freeze, originally intended as a temporary measure but is now into its seventh year.
We have already heard a few. Plans in East Dunbartonshire, for example, to turn the heating down in schools as part of a drive to save £23million. Or moves to increase primary school class sizes in South Lanarkshire, saving £20m. From swingeing jobs cuts to municipal football pitches without white lines, the plight of local government has become an embarrassment. Now Ms Sturgeon can at least say work is beginning on the problem.
If council tax reform was the most interesting aspect of the programme, land reform will surely be the most controversial - but Ms Sturgeon may welcome a fight with the landed gentry.
Overall, with its array of commmissions and conventions, this did not look like the programme for government of an administration nearing the end of its time in office.
The new First Minister expects to be around in 2020.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article