Green leader Patrick Harvie pledges 'solid proposition' for replacement of council tax ahead of 2026 Holyrood election

Patrick Harvie said it would be a “collective failure” if nothing was on the table at the next Scottish election

Patrick Harvie has committed the Scottish Government to deliver a “solid proposition” for the replacement of council tax ahead of the next general election.

However, the Scottish Green co-leader claimed it would be a “collective failure” of the Scottish Parliament if one was not forthcoming, and rejected the suggestion it would be a personal failure for him and his party.

The SNP pledged to replace council tax in 2007, but failed to do so, with Mr Harvie’s party also committing to reform.

Scottish Green Party leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater during a visit to the Eats Rosyth Centenary Orchard in Rosyth, Fife, ahead of the party conference.

The minister for tenant’s rights, who was speaking to journalists at the Eats Rosyth Centenary Orchard in Rosyth, Fife, ahead of his party’s conference in Dunfermline this weekend, also rejected calls for a revaluation from the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Humza Yousaf’s decision to freeze council tax for 2024/25 sparked fury from councils and has reignited debate over the tax’s suitability as funding for local authorities is stretched to the limit.

Mr Harvie refused to put a figure on how much a “fully funded” council tax freeze would cost the Government, but said it would be “silly to assume that no council was going to go above 3 per cent on council tax this year”.

He added: “In my view, there’s a case for at least considering whether revaluation would involve as much work and disruption as completely replacing council tax with something fundamentally fairer.

Scottish Green Party leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater during a visit to the Eats Rosyth Centenary Orchard in Rosyth, Fife, ahead of the party conference.

"If this controversy produces anything positive, it’s an opportunity to put real impetus back into that case and make progress in this session of Parliament.”

However, he claimed that in order for reform to be possible, there needed to be a “consensus” across political parties.

Mr Harvie said: “I think that’s a collective failure across the whole political landscape in Scotland and in this sixth session, I think it is time for a solid proposition to come forward.

"That’s what I’m committed to do my best to achieve. It does take more than one party to be able to make progress on this.

"It takes other parties to be able to say 'what’s your constructive ideas, how are you going to work with us to try and achieve change that’s lasting?’.

"It might be a bit of a stretch, a bit optimistic to say that other parties might try to be constructive for once.

"All of them should have positive ideas about how council tax and how local government funding can change rather than just being polarising and opportunistic about this.”

The Scottish Green co-leader added: “[I] don’t think that’s a job that we can afford to just keep kicking down the road

"How long are we going to wait? Until council tax values are 40 years out of date, 50 years out of date, 60 years out of date? It’s a joke.”

Pressed on whether reform of council tax would be a ‘red line’ for any future coalition deal negotiation, Mr Harvie said the question was "absurd speculation”.

He also refused to name a policy that would spark the Greens exiting the coalition deal with the SNP, known as the Bute House Agreement.

He said the suggestion his party would do anything to stay in government was “complete nonsense”.

The Green co-leader added: "If we were to reach the view at any point that we are being blocked in that [delivering what Green voters voted for], and that’s not happening at the moment … then obviously we would reconsider.”