Meeting of the Parliament 28 March 2018
I have very little time left.
I believe that the discussion paper on the role of income tax in Scotland, and the consultation throughout, was an exemplar in engagement on tax. Even if the Opposition disagreed with the final policy outcomes, the process was one of consultation and sound methodology, with clear tests established.
There is no clear alternative proposition to the council tax, which commands majority support in this Parliament, so an implementation forum seems somewhat presumptive. For our part, we have tasked the Scottish Land Commission with exploring the possibility of introducing a land value tax to ensure that we can take an informed decision on that. There is much interest in it, but limited examples of it in operation.
Local government’s role in the dialogue is fundamental. It would have to implement any changes that followed from decisions that we made, it would depend on the revenues that were then collected, and it would have to deal with any shortfall should the reforms be ill-considered. Changes to local tax must be progressed in partnership with local government and with a clear evidence base. In that regard, the commission on local tax reform did valuable work. Our governance review builds on that as we work with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to engage the public and look across all our public services in order to understand the changes that can improve lives and bring democracy closer to the people.
For all those reasons, I move amendment S5M-11290.2, to leave out from “believes” to end and insert:
“notes that the present Council Tax system was changed in 2016 to make it more progressive; acknowledges that these changes will result in an estimated additional £500 million over the course of the current parliamentary session; considers that any changes to local government taxation must be done in partnership with local authorities; recognises that the Land Commission is undertaking work on the introduction of a land value tax and that a joint review of local governance is underway, and notes that the Scottish Government is open to further dialogue on options for local tax reform and any plan that would command the clear support of Parliament.”
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.