Council tax hikes for one in four Scots homes would only amount to “tinkering around the edges” when it comes to finding the funds for local services, a senior union official has said.

Dave Moxham, deputy general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), said the whole system needed to be replaced.

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He was speaking after a leaked paper from Cosla proposed a consultation which could result in eyewatering increases.

Those in the most expensive Band H properties could see their bills increase by 22.5%, or around £740, from next year, if the proposals are put into effect.

One in four properties could see their bills rise as a result of the way the tax is calculated - even before their local council had imposed its annual hike.

Under the plan, the ratios between the eight council tax bands, known as multipliers, would be changed to increase the charge for the most expensive bands E to H. 

These were changed in 2017, raising Band E by 7.2%, Band F by 12.5%, Band G by 17.5% and Band H by 22.5%

The proposal is to raise the bands by the same amounts again for 2024/25, leading to cumulative multiplier hikes in Bands E to H of 15, 27, 38 and 50% respectively.

The leaked paper - obtained by the Daily Record - states: “Repeating the 2017 changes would mean Council Tax would increase by 7.5%, 12.5%, 17.5% and 22.5% for properties valuation bands E, F, G and H respectively if council tax rates remained unchanged.

“The average increases, at 2023/24 council tax rates, would be around £127, £281, £464 and £741 per dwelling in these bands respectively.”

No final decision has yet been made on the plans and it is unclear when the consultation will take place.

“We do need the council tax scrapped – and apparently we have most political parties that agree with that – but no action has been taken now for years and that action needs to start,” Mr Moxham told the BBC.

“What the Scottish Government, what Cosla are doing at the moment is tinkering around the edges to try and make the system that we’ve got more progressive, because it does need to be more progressive.”

He added: “It really is a sticking plaster measure and we need more radical action.”

While he agreed that the proposed increase was more progressive than the current system, he warned it could “catch” some people with relatively low incomes in higher value homes.

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The STUC has proposed an expansion to the council tax reduction scheme, which would support those struggling with increases to their payments, but Mr Moxham admitted this would be “terribly complicated” because the current system is “very bad”.

Council services in recent years have been struggling under the weight of real-terms cuts to funding – compounded by rising inflation in the past 18 months – with local authorities engaging in an annual battle with the Scottish Government over funding.

Mr Moxham predicted a “grim” couple of years ahead if changes are not made to the current tax system.