'Irresponsible' to increase council tax during cost-of-living crisis, Tories claim

Economy secretary Neil Gray previously told The Scotsman that council tax rises must be “proportionate”.

The Scottish Government launched proposals to increase the multipliers for higher council tax bands.

Increasing council tax for those in the most valuable properties in Scotland would be “irresponsible”, the Scottish Conservatives have claimed amid hints the Scottish Government could roll back on plans to increase council tax bans.

News of the plans to increase council tax multipliers for the highest council tax bands leaked earlier this month, with the Daily Record newspaper obtaining a Cosla report on the proposals.

If implemented, the plans would see council tax for homes in bands E, F, G and H increased on a sliding scale of 7.5 per cent, 12.5 per cent, 17.5 per cent and 22.5 per cent, to address concerns about the fairness of the charge.

Some 28 per cent of properties in Scotland are believed to be in the bands that would be impacted, but only 0.5 per cent of them are in the highest council tax band.

Neil Gray, Scotland’s economy secretary, told The Scotsman that any changes to council tax “have to be proportionate” and said discussions were ongoing about their final shape.

Liz Smith, the Scottish Conservative finance spokesperson, said council tax payers should not “shoulder the burden” of the need to increase council income.

She said: “Neil Gray’s hints that the SNP government might row back on its plans to raise council tax on almost a third of Scottish homes by up to 22.5 per cent are a belated recognition of their inherent unfairness.

“His party has already made Scotland the highest-taxed part of the United Kingdom, but neglected council funding, with the result that many basic public services are at breaking point.

“Having previously promised to abolish council tax, Humza Yousaf’s government is now reaching for it to fill the gaps in their finances.

“The Scottish Conservative have long called for a fair funding deal for Scotland’s local authorities but, as Neil Gray seems to have realised after a public backlash, it is irresponsible to expect hard-pressed council tax-payers grappling with a global cost-of-living crisis to shoulder the burden.”

Mr Gray accused Westminster austerity and the inflation crisis for the need to increase taxes.

He added: “The consultation that we’re running is about how we can ensure how local government continues to be effectively resourced to do so.

"But, in all these things we have to be proportionate and ensure that the asks that we make of our citizens to pay in tax can be evidenced as being delivering in terms of good public services.”