‘Firm alternative’ to council tax before next Holyrood elections, Harvie says

The Scottish Government will have developed a “firm alternative” to the council tax by the next Holyrood elections in 2026, Green minister Patrick Harvie has pledged.

He made the commitment in the wake of a row over First Minister Humza Yousaf’s promise that the levy will be frozen across Scotland next year.

The SNP leader announced the move at his party’s conference without telling local government leaders first, with the Greens – who are the junior partners in government at Holyrood – only informed shortly before Mr Yousaf took to the stage.

Mr Harvie told the Scottish Green Party conference in Dunfermline, Fife, that since then Green MSPs and councillors had “clearly expressed criticisms of the council tax freeze”.

He added the issue “only serves to highlight just how broken local government funding is”, with the Scottish Green co-leader saying reform was “long overdue”.

Mr Harvie stated that “only with Greens in government” could this be achieved, telling party supporters: “By the end of this Parliament there will finally be a firm alternative put forward to complete the long overdue replacement of council tax.

“It’s only with Greens at the table that progress is possible.

“To step away from government or to step away from working together on council tax as a shared policy concern is to step away from any prospect of reform.”

He contrasted the Scottish Government’s policies with those from the Tories at Westminster, hitting out at Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, who he said “tramples over devolution with all the finesse of a toddler on a sugar rush”.

Mr Harvie also condemned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as being “vacuous” and having “absolutely nothing real to say”.

He told his party’s conference: “Last month Rishi Sunak scrapped energy standards for private rented homes, consigning private tenants to colder homes and adding over £300 extra on their fuel bills.”

Mr Harvie, the minister for zero carbon buildings, active travel and tenants rights, added: “That’s not the choice I am making.

“Our path to a zero carbon future will not include abandoning Scotland’s 300,000 private tenants to cold, damp homes, to higher fuel bills, and fuel poverty.”

He continued: “Unlike Rishi Sunak, we won’t scrap action on this.

“The Heat in Buildings Bill which I will take through Parliament will include new regulations that make sure landlords invest in the improvements that give tenants the warm and healthy homes they deserve to live in.”

He also used his speech to announce the next Scottish budget would include £2 million of funding to extend free bus travel to asylum seekers  in Scotland.

However, he said this policy would “take time” to implement”, adding the Scottish Government would “need to step up the pressure on the current UK Government, or the next one, to do the right thing”