Meeting of the Parliament 14 December 2016
Our reforms will protect household incomes, make local taxation fairer and ensure that local authorities continue to be properly funded, as I said. After those reforms, and at the present rates of council tax, charges for all properties will still, on average, remain less than the equivalent charges in England. That, too, contributes to making Scotland an attractive place in which to live.
It remains our view that it was disappointing that, when considering the legislation to reform council tax last month, Parliament failed to support steps to ensure that any future reforms are based on the principle of fair and progressive taxation. The Scottish Government will remain committed to that principle. As both the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution have made clear, those reforms are the first steps of a journey of reform. Our direction is clear, and we remain open to engaging with others as we work towards delivering fairer and more progressive local taxation for the longer term.
I challenge the premise of the Tories’ case on two key counts. First, they imply in the framing of their motion that it is a bad thing to vary individual rates or bands in developing a revenue package that is designed to suit Scotland’s needs. Secondly, and crucially, I highlight that, whatever tax rate or revenue stream we refer to—for example council tax or business rates—taxation is, as Willie Rennie pointed out, only one side of the equation.
The Scottish Government delivers and invests in quality public services, including, among other things, free childcare, with our move to deliver 1,140 hours per child; free prescriptions; free undergraduate tuition; and free personal and nursing care for those who need it. We are also investing in the energy efficiency of our housing stock and in our health service, and are maintaining police officer numbers. When all those factors and more are taken into consideration, Scotland remains an extremely attractive and good-value place in which to live and work.
As Patrick Harvie identified, the Tories’ focus on modest differences in the starting point for those paying the upper rate of income tax fails to see the context of a broader contract with families and businesses, where all potentially benefit from the same policies that deliver better services and greater wellbeing for all who live here—for employers, employees, parents, children and, indeed, customers. By delivering on inclusive growth, the evidence tells us that we not only reduce inequality but strengthen the competitiveness of our economy.
Other parties will no doubt take a different view—