Chamber
Plenary, 16 Jun 2004
16 Jun 2004 · S2 · Plenary
Item of business
Local Government Finance Review
On behalf of the real Opposition, I thank the minister for providing an early copy of his statement.
The fact that we are able to have two statements today makes it quite clear that it would have been possible last week to have had a statement on Scottish Opera from the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and a statement on Reliance contracts from the Minister for Justice. As the real Opposition, we will continue to press those matters at a future date.
I note what the minister said. I heard him say that he was unable to announce the members of the review team. Why can we not have such an announcement today, when that would surely have made sense? The minister also talked about the council tax providing 20 per cent of council revenues, but he will be aware that council tax payers actually pay only 14 per cent of that amount; council tax benefit accounts for the difference. That is an important issue, of which the review should not lose sight.
Although the minister's statement says:
"We know it is not possible to look at local taxation in isolation",
in some regards the review will examine local taxation in isolation, because the remit contains no mention of the responsibilities of local government in Scotland. I suggest to the minister that the review should take into account local authorities' responsibilities so that it will know what global sums need to be raised and how that should be done. By leaving out such consideration, the minister is missing an opportunity to ensure that local government is doing its job properly now that we have a devolved Parliament that may have views on those responsibilities.
I was interested to hear the minister say that any appropriate model of taxation can be considered. What method of local taxation does he or his party propose? I notice that the statement mentions a reformed council tax. Given that we have heard the other partnership party's views on local income tax, I would be interested to hear the views of the minister's party. If, as I suspect, he is unable to provide those views today, I ask him to ensure that all submissions to the review are published on the web.
The fact that we are able to have two statements today makes it quite clear that it would have been possible last week to have had a statement on Scottish Opera from the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and a statement on Reliance contracts from the Minister for Justice. As the real Opposition, we will continue to press those matters at a future date.
I note what the minister said. I heard him say that he was unable to announce the members of the review team. Why can we not have such an announcement today, when that would surely have made sense? The minister also talked about the council tax providing 20 per cent of council revenues, but he will be aware that council tax payers actually pay only 14 per cent of that amount; council tax benefit accounts for the difference. That is an important issue, of which the review should not lose sight.
Although the minister's statement says:
"We know it is not possible to look at local taxation in isolation",
in some regards the review will examine local taxation in isolation, because the remit contains no mention of the responsibilities of local government in Scotland. I suggest to the minister that the review should take into account local authorities' responsibilities so that it will know what global sums need to be raised and how that should be done. By leaving out such consideration, the minister is missing an opportunity to ensure that local government is doing its job properly now that we have a devolved Parliament that may have views on those responsibilities.
I was interested to hear the minister say that any appropriate model of taxation can be considered. What method of local taxation does he or his party propose? I notice that the statement mentions a reformed council tax. Given that we have heard the other partnership party's views on local income tax, I would be interested to hear the views of the minister's party. If, as I suspect, he is unable to provide those views today, I ask him to ensure that all submissions to the review are published on the web.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Murray Tosh):
Con
The next item of business is a statement by Andy Kerr, on the local government finance review. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement a...
The Minister for Finance and Public Services (Mr Andy Kerr):
Lab
I reassure the Rev Alistair Morrison that his voice was heard loud and clear, despite the fact that the microphone was not working too well.We made a commitm...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Con
The minister will now take questions on the statement; I will allow around 20 minutes.
Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP):
SNP
I thank the minister for personally providing me with a copy of the statement just before the start of these proceedings. The minister knows that the Scottis...
Mr Kerr:
Lab
Quite correctly, I am limited in how I can respond to many of the points that Fergus Ewing has raised. On the day of the setting up of an independent review,...
Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
On behalf of the real Opposition, I thank the minister for providing an early copy of his statement. The fact that we are able to have two statements today m...
Mr Kerr:
Lab
I refer the member to the Labour Party manifesto, which probably provides a greater insight on such matters than anything else. That keeps me from any danger...
Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD):
LD
Will the minister provide an answer for a constituent of mine who is a pensioner and who came to an advice surgery? My constituent has a fixed income, which ...
Mr Kerr:
Lab
The points that the member raises will clearly be part of the considerations. If not, the member's constituent may raise the point directly, or the member ma...
Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green):
Green
I welcome the establishment of an independent review and the fact that it will consider systems that are based on taxation of the value of land, alongside ot...
Mr Kerr:
Lab
I am sure that it will do so, because I am sure that the member, if not others, will raise that matter with the review team. I recognise the member's point t...
Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP):
SSP
I am sure that the people of Scotland will welcome today's announcement because—I hope—it is the beginning of the end of the unfair Tory council tax. I am di...
Mr Kerr:
Lab
I will do my best to respond to all those points. If I miss one out I will get back to the member later. First, I am not in favour of a dictatorial approach ...
Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome the review of the council tax, but I ask the minister to be mindful of the fact that we are still waiting to hear what is going to happen to counci...
Mr Kerr:
Lab
I share that hope. Tavish Scott and I are trying to expedite the matter as quickly as possible. As I have said to the Parliament in the past, there is a degr...
Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP):
SNP
In 1999, the McIntosh commission recommended that there should be an independent review of local government finance, but the Executive at that time refused t...
Mr Kerr:
Lab
First of all, the Executive said that the review would be a thorough examination of Scotland's local taxation system. It has implications well beyond local g...
Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome the minister's statement that the review will be required to take into account the impact on the Scottish economy of any change in the taxation sys...
Mr Kerr:
Lab
I will not go there, with due respect. Why intrude on pain?It is critical that, as part of the review, we understand the implications of what we do in future...
Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD):
LD
I welcome the minister's statement and the setting up of the review. Local government has been calling for one for as long as I can remember—which is longer ...
Mr Kerr:
Lab
The questions are not over yet, but—dare I say it—there has been little criticism of the core areas that the review team will examine. That suggests that, wh...
Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab):
Lab
I ask that the review body be asked to make an early estimate of the costs of introducing an income tax to replace the council tax, because we have had a var...
Mr Kerr:
Lab
My job is to listen to the review team's findings, which will come after long evidence taking and consideration of all the matters that members have raised t...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Con
My regrets go to those members whose names are still on my screen, but we must now go to the next item of business.