Rennie: Yousaf must end broken promises and abolish council tax

Speaking 30 years on from when council tax was first introduced, Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Willie Rennie has called on Humza Yousaf’s government to finally “end an age mired by broken promises” and implement a fairer system of local taxation.  

Since 2007, the SNP has promised to abolish council tax. Nicola Sturgeon said that her party “will abolish the unfair council tax” and that she would “announce it from the rooftops,” promising that it would be the “biggest tax cut for middle Scotland and for pensioners in a generation.” It has never been abolished.  

The SNP chose to ignore 16 out of the 19 recommendations of a year-long cross-party Commission on Local Tax Reform. In March 2022, Public Finance Minister Tom Arthur said that the SNP had no plans to bring forwards its broken commitment to reform council tax until at least 2026, with potential reform ranging from “relatively minor” to “significant and fundamental.”  

Mr Rennie said:  

“The SNP’s supposed plans to abolish council tax were more about publicity than fairness.

"Multiple manifestos and elections later, they are still finding new ways to file it at the back of the cabinet.    

“The SNP have now been in charge for more than half the lifetime of this tax.

"Alex Salmond called the council tax unfair and insisted he would scrap it. Nicola Sturgeon said she “hated” it.

"There are people eligible to vote who weren’t even born when they promised reform. It’s utterly shameful.

"It is time for the new First Minister to end an age mired by broken promises and contempt for local autonomy.    

“Unlike the nationalists, Scottish Liberal Democrats would deliver reform. We have proposed a switch to a land value system, used elsewhere in the world, which is fairer and does not penalise homeowners for improving their properties.”