Meeting of the Parliament 15 May 2024
The Greens will be supporting the Labour motion. I was very proud that, three years ago, when we entered Government, we came to an agreement with our SNP colleagues to increase the budget for school staffing—for teachers in particular—by £145 million. That was a real sign of progress and commitment. However, it revealed a huge challenge in relation to national commitments, which were in all five of our party manifestos, and the commitment to localism that is enshrined in the Verity house agreement, which I think all five parties support. We ended up in a situation in which £145 million of funding to increase the number of teachers in our schools did not result in an increase in their numbers, at least not nationally, even though that money was spent. I will come back to the tension between national commitments and localism in a minute.
It is fair to say that having more teachers is not the only way to close the attainment gap in our schools, but having fewer teachers clearly will not help; that will take us backwards. The motion references the unique challenge in Glasgow, which is caused in large part by a £770 million unequal pay bill that was left by the previous Labour administration. However, a challenging national picture needs to be addressed, too. Although the Government amendment has a lot in it that I agree with, it would remove the reference to the situation in Glasgow, so the Greens will not be able to support it.
As much as I welcome the Labour Party’s lodging of the motion, I am frustrated that the motion would require more Government spending, because Labour opposed not just the council tax reforms last autumn to give councils more money but the rates resolution to increase tax on the top 5 per cent of earners in Scotland as part of the budget process. If the Labour Party wants more spending, it needs to identify where it would reallocate the money from or to be honest about the need for tax rises.
I get that the Conservatives oppose tax rises, and they have started to bring forward proposed savings. I do not think that I agree with any of their suggestions so far, but it makes for an honest debate when proposals are on the table.
Fundamentally, this is an issue of finance before it is an issue of education, and that is why the proposed Green amendment focused on financial measures. I am proud of the progress that has been made recently. I believe that the devolution of empty property relief alone was worth about £12 million to Glasgow City Council this year. Greater council tax discretion in relation to second and holiday homes has been used immediately by most councils. Parliament will pass the visitor levy later this month. There are commitments to further work, including a cruise ship levy, a public health levy, an infrastructure levy and potentially a power of general competence, which will all empower councils to fund local services.
Those actions collectively all help, but we all know that the big difference will be made only by reforming council tax. Council tax has been outdated since before I was born. I know that I look as if I have had a rough paper round, but I will turn 30 next month. Throughout my entire life, every year, more and more people have moved into the wrong council tax band. Most households in this country pay the wrong rate of taxation, which is absurd. We obviously need revaluation, but we also need an outright replacement, which is why the proposed Green Party amendment said that all parties should contribute to the joint working group on local government financial sources.
The issue is not just about increasing individual tax liability. The public health levy and the carbon emissions land tax are not about individuals but about supermarkets and large landowners. The Poverty Alliance, Oxfam and others said today, in speaking about child poverty, that Scotland is a wealthy country. Wealth has grown since devolution started in 1999, but it is hugely unequally held. We will achieve our shared goals, whether it is closing the attainment gap, creating a world-class education system or lifting children out of poverty, only if we increase spending in those areas.
The debate is fundamentally about honesty. The block grant is not close to keeping up with inflation or pay demands. We have either to cut public services or to raise revenue. Nobody is proposing to cut teacher numbers, so let us be honest about what we can do to make sure that we keep those posts, preserve those jobs and deliver the world-class education system that our children deserve.
15:21