Future legislation: 'There was little for Edinburgh to cheer about'

Published on Thursday 4 September 2008 09:44

IT should be of some concern to Edinburgh working people that despite widespread opposition, the SNP appears hell-bent on pressing ahead with plans to replace the council tax with a local income tax in its current legislative programme.

Should it ever become a reality, it is people in places like the Capital where the cost of living is already high who will suffer most.

Overall, there was little for Edinburgh to cheer about as the SNP unveiled its plans for new Bills over the next year. There was no mention of the setting up a mechanism for the establishment and running of a Scottish Futures Trust, which is so vital to the city's schools replacement and refurbishment programme, and it is to be presumed the omission means the Government is confident that a method of getting the scheme up and running can happen without the need for legislation

Aside from council tax, the Government only proposes to tackle two other issues which can be described as heavyweight in the coming year – alcohol abuse and court sentencing.

Attempts to reform Scotland's booze culture are to be welcomed, but regardless of what measures the SNP proposes over sales and supply, they will have little or no effect on a problem which is now too deeply rooted to be fixed by blunt legislation alone.

But new laws to ensure more consistency in sentencing across a number of areas will be welcomed. And it is to be hoped that a Bill separating the council and Holyrood elections will ensure the count blunders which rocked Scotland – and particularly Edinburgh – last time around will not be repeated.

But it is almost certain that above all other things, the council tax reform debate will dominate the coming 12 months.

Labour and the Conservatives will continue to oppose the plans for a local income tax. But what should be of some concern is that the Liberal Democrats – who support the policy in principle, but not the method of delivery proposed by the government – may now be prepared to compromise and lend their support.. By giving themselves almost a year before presenting a Bill they have plenty of time to reach agreement. Were that to occur, it will only take the support of the Greens to make it happen.

This will mean that Scottish pay-packets will be the hardest hit in the UK and hundreds of people who are not currently liable for Council Tax will have the cash taken from them. And with the centralised system proposed by the Nationalists, it will mean that hard-working Edinburgh people will end up subsidising the rest of Scotland.

Council Tax has its problems, and maybe the alternative of a property tax has problems too, but another centralised income tax will be a disaster.