Don't do as I do, do as I say, may be a useful maxim for bossy parents but it rarely works in politics. The Scottish National Party talks a lot about transferring fiscal autonomy and devolving political decision-making, but at the same time the new Scottish Executive seems intent on denying such things to local communities. This seems a strange non sequitur at a time when the SNP holds more of the reins in local government than ever before.
Don't do as I do, do as I say, may be a useful maxim for bossy parents but it rarely works in politics. The Scottish National Party talks a lot about transferring fiscal autonomy and devolving political decision-making, but at the same time the new Scottish Executive seems intent on denying such things to local communities. This seems a strange non sequitur at a time when the SNP holds more of the reins in local government than ever before.
Figures obtained by The Herald suggest that the Nationalists' manifesto pledge to freeze the council tax at current levels for three years will leave Scottish local authorities with a £420m black hole. One senior official reckons his council will need £70m a year extra just to stand still.
The executive will know how much it has in its kitty for the next three years before the winter. By contrast, local authorities are having to plan services in the dark. Unless the executive can undertake to make up the revenue councils will lose as a result of the freeze, major cuts in public services are the most likely outcome.
There has been much talk of efficiency savings, with the possibility of adjoining councils sharing certain functions. As well as being politically contentious, such moves rarely realise the savings envisaged. In addition, in recent years councils have faced huge pressures on their budgets. Reasons include nationally-agreed above-inflation pay increases for staff, the cost of implementing equality legislation, ring-fenced budgets, larger than anticipated bills for free personal care, implementing government regulations and meeting targets in areas such as recycling.
It is worth remembering that councils already face uncertainty over future receipts from business rates, which the executive proposes to cut. Some of the SNP's manifesto commitments were more populist than pragmatic and now they must face the charge that their sums do not add up. Besides, it seems unlikely that those who voted for the SNP in May did so out of a genuine desire for fewer teachers and social workers and more holes in the roads.
A principle behind local democracy is that voters can use to ballot box to vote for high- or low-spending councils. Freezing council tax would deny them that choice. If the executive presses ahead with its plan to replace council tax with local income tax, that choice could be denied permanently. This is unlikely to persuade more of us to vote in council elections. The SNP is right to label the council tax regressive. The answer is to reform it by creating more bands. The executive talks of "strengthening the role of local authorities and freezing the council tax". That sounds suspiciously like an oxymoron.
