by BILL HEANEY
John Swinney has been told he must ensure cross-party talks on council tax reform take place “as soon as possible”.
The First Minister has been urged to act after MSPs repeatedly voted in favour of talks, with Scottish Labour advocating a fairer, more progressive distribution of local taxation.
Last week, Scottish Labour won a vote calling for cross-party talks on council tax reform – and for the Scottish Government to “convene those talks without further delay”.
It comes just months after the party won a similar vote calling for cross-party talks on council tax reform, submitted by Michael Marra in June.
Scottish Labour local government spokesperson Joe Fagan said: “John Swinney was Finance Secretary in 2007 when the SNP pledged to scrap council tax – as it stands all he’s pledging to do is scrap local councils.”
“Despite repeated commitments to scrap council tax by the SNP, it remains in place, with valuations unchanged since the early 1990s.
“Progressive reforms are required, and we are committed to working towards building a political and public consensus on how reforms can be fairly designed and implemented.
“The Scottish Parliament has now twice voted for cross-party talks to be held on council tax reform, and yet we have seen little action.
“It is crucial that the Scottish Government respects the will of the Parliament and ensures these talks take place as soon as possible.”