Council tax re-valuation urged for ‘early in new parliament’

A Holyrood committee has said a fresh valuation of council tax bands should be done “early in the next parliamentary session”.

The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee conducted an inquiry into council tax as the Scottish Government plans to consult on potentially reforming the widely unpopular system which the SNP initially pledged to scrap nearly two decades ago.

Currently, the bands properties fall into are based on valuations done in 1991 – more than 30 years ago.

But in a letter to Finance Secretary Shona Robison, the committee’s convener Ariane Burgess stressed that – due to the length of time reform will likely take – revaluations should take place soon after the election next year, as well as legislating for regular reviews to ensure valuations never fall so out of date again.

“The committee recognises that consensus is unlikely to be achieved in the short-term on a wholesale replacement of the council tax system but agrees with your suggestion that ‘if we could do something about 1991 property values in a way that is pragmatic and practical and has consensus, that would
be better – it would be progress rather than nothing’.

“We heard there is widespread agreement on the need for action in the form of revaluation.

“The committee agrees that it is indefensible for council tax bills to continue to be based on values from 1991 and recommends that revaluation takes place early in the next parliamentary session.

“The committee further recommends that a requirement for revaluation to take place at regular intervals should be placed on a statutory footing to mitigate the risk of a similar scenario arising again in the future.

“We intend to highlight this recommendation to our successor committee.”

During an appearance before the committee on the issue earlier this year, the Finance Secretary said there is unlikely to be widespread agreement on a “big-bang, massive replacement for council tax”, suggesting that instead more “incremental” changes could be “more realistic”.

The committee also argued that the creation of more council tax bands could be “more progressive and therefore fairer”.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has announced a joint programme of engagement with Cosla – which will include consultation with members across the Parliament – to build consensus around reforms to make Council Tax fairer. This will commence this year.”