Owners penalised

So, new Labour’s big idea is to fiddle with the valuation bands for the council tax. This ignores the fact that the real problem is with the system used to raise local revenue, not with its operational parameters.

Any form of taxation based on the value of property is inherently unfair as it does not truly reflect the wealth of those living in the property. Just because the value of property has increased over the last decade does not mean that my income has in-creased to the same extent. Indeed, with the rises in house prices that are regularly reported by mortgage providers (up to 25 per cent annually) far outstripping average in-creases in pay over the same period (2-4 per cent annually) the opposite could be said to be true. The increase in house prices also means that more and more people are electing to stay in their current house, unable to afford to move.

New Labour’s proposals effectively penalise people for something that they have no control over.

Our local tax burden has in-creased by 43 per cent over the last five years, yet our streets are dirtier and more ruinous, public transport is a mess, our schools are falling down and are only replaced by selling our assets to the private sector through PPPs.

Before new Labour increases our tax burden any further, it would behove it to ensure that we are getting value for money for our existing contributions.

(DR) KENNETH PEACOCK

Howdenhall Way

Edinburgh