stewartb

I see The Herald is recycling the unmet ‘scrap unfair Council Tax‘ promise. Nothing could be easier than scrapping it – could it?

Dear ChatGPT: ‘why, despite promises, has council tax not been scrapped in Scotland?

Response (unedited except for my added emphasis): ‘Scotland has not scrapped council tax despite repeated promises (particularly from the SNP) for several key, fairly practical reasons — not simply because politicians changed their minds on a whim. Here’s the core of the issue:

Initial 2007 Promise Fell Apart Quickly
When the SNP first came to power at Holyrood in 2007, their manifesto pledged to scrap council tax and replace it with a local income tax based on ability to pay. However: That plan failed to secure support from other political parties (Labour and Conservatives) in the Scottish Parliament. Finance Minister John Swinney said the government couldn’t afford a switch — in part because of a £500 million cut in Scotland’s block grant from Westminster — making the reform financially unwise at the time.
Source: The Ferret
So the most ambitious pledge was simply dropped early o2. Council Tax Is a Key Funding Stream for Local Services

Council tax still provides significant revenue for local authorities.

Roughly £2.7 billion is raised from it compared to nearly £12 billion in total council funding — meaning it’s not trivial. Eliminating it without a replacement would leave councils with big holes in their budgets. Reformers agree that the system is outdated and unfair, but no alternative has yet won political agreement.
Source: Tax Justice Scotland3. Political and Practical Obstacles to Reform
Even though there’s broad consensus among experts that the current council tax system is unfair (bands based on 1991 property values, not modern values), actual reform proposals keep getting blocked or sidelined:
Green MSP proposals to overhaul or revalue council tax were voted down by SNP, Labour and Conservatives.
Source: Scottish Greens
A proper revaluation (based on current values) is politically sensitive because it would push some households into higher bands and would be seen as a tax rise, even if it’s a fairness measure.
Source: Reddit
So while everyone agrees “something should change,” the details of what replaces council tax have proven extremely contentious.

Freezes Rather Than Abolition
Rather than scrapping the tax, recent Scottish governments have tended to freeze or cap council tax bills to ease the cost-of-living pressures — but they haven’t abolished it outright. These freezes still depend on negotiations with councils and funding from the Scottish Government; councils have warned a freeze without full funding can strain local budgets.
Source: The Independent

Manifesto vs. Political Reality
Subsequent SNP manifestos have downgraded promises from outright abolition to “reform” or “freeze” measures — and even those have fallen short. One fact check noted the original 2007 pledge was indeed to scrap council tax, but it was abandoned after failing to find support (and likely due to cost) and later commitments have mostly been incremental or vague.
Source: The Ferret

Summary
Council tax hasn’t been scrapped in Scotland because:
– The original abolition plan failed politically and financially.
– Council tax still funds essential local services, with no agreed replacement.
– Meaningful reform (like revaluation or a new tax) hasn’t secured cross-party consensus.
– Freezes have been used to ease bills, but that’s not abolition.
– Political promises have become less bold over time as challenges emerged.

In short, it’s not that politicians suddenly decided to keep council tax for fun — rather, cost, political opposition, technical complexity and the lack of a viable alternative have all stalled outright abolition.‘

I’d add this, from the COSLA website October 27, 2025: ‘Today, a consultation ‘The Future of Council Tax in Scotland’ was launched. The consultation seeks views on how Scotland’s council tax system could be made fairer and more up to date. It explores illustrative models such as revaluing properties, adjusting tax bands and introducing protections to help households manage any changes to their bills.’

‘Commenting on the consultation, Councillor Katie Hagmann, COSLA Resources Spokesperson, said: “Local government has long called for a fairer and more proportionate Council Tax system – one that reflects the needs of our communities and supports our local services. Reform is long overdue. This important work marks the beginning of a process to build consensus around a better system of local taxation.’

The implication here is that Scotland’s local authorities have been calling for REFORM of Council Tax, not its abolition, and even wanting (just) reform, finding consensus will be far from straightforward!

Much weight since 2007 has been placed – you may think rightly or wrongly – on the importance of reaching consensus over Council Tax reform and it still is. The impact of absence of consensus over the introduction of the Tory Poll Tax in Scotland is well remembered and surely, to be avoided. The question is how much ‘good faith’ is there amongst pro-Union politicians and others: how much incentive do they have to reach consensus specifically with an SNP government over Council Tax reform or its abolition?