Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2023 [Draft]
I thank colleagues for their contributions. On Alex Cole-Hamilton’s final remark, I appreciate that he might disagree with the distribution and the allocation but, if he wants to distribute money to local authorities, he needs to vote for the order, or at least not oppose it.
Secondly, if I recall correctly—I will check the Official Report—he said that I had been explicit or made clear that there would be no changes to council tax by the end of this parliamentary session. That is not what I said. I gave a specific commitment that was misreported—or, at least, reported with a particular tone that suggested that my intention was other than what it was. I want to be clear about this: my intention is that the pace with which we move on council tax reform will be determined by the outcome of engagement with COSLA and through a deliberative process. I think that members will recognise that, in the spirit of working in partnership with local authorities and respecting them, we should not seek to impose a form of local taxation on them but should, instead, seek to reach agreement and consensus in partnership.