The Local Government and Communities Committee was designated as the lead Committee to consider this Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI).
Evidence
Call for Written Evidence
The Local Government and Communities Committee launched a call for written evidence from all interested parties as part of its consideration of the draft Council Tax (Substitution of Proportion) (Scotland) Order 2016. The draft Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI) was laid in the Parliament by the Scottish Government on Wednesday 7 September 2016. The Scottish Government intends to implement Council Tax reform through this SSI.
The main area of reform proposed by the Scottish Government is to increase the ratios of the upper bands (E-H) relative to Band D. This will mean that bills for Band E will increase by 7.5%, Band F by 12.5%, Band G by 17.5% and Band H by 22.5%. No additional bands have been added and the ratios for Bands A-D will remain unchanged.
Organisations and individuals were invited to submit written evidence to the Committee setting out their views on the proposed changes to Council Tax. Those submitting evidence could address any, or all, of the issues contained in the SSI. A copy of the SSI, and its accompanying documents, are available at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/sdsi/2016/9780111032589/contents
For further details on the Committee's call for written evidence, please see the link below.
Read the call for written evidence
Written Submissions
Read the written submissions received
Scottish Government Briefing Note on Water Charges and Council Tax
The Scottish Government has provided the Committee with a briefing note on water charges and Council Tax:
Committee Report
The Committee published its report on the draft statutory instruments on Friday 28 October 2016:
Scottish Government Response
The Scottish Government responded on 22 December 2016
Timetable
The Committee invited the following to give evidence on:
- Wednesday 21 September 2016: 2 panels: representatives from academia and representatives from industry:
Panel 1:
Professor Kenneth Gibb, University of Glasgow; Professor David Bell, University of Stirling; Professor Richard Kerley, Queen Margaret University.
Panel 2:
Joan Hewton and Les Robertson, Institute of Revenue, Ratings and Valuation; David Thomson, Scottish Assessors' Association, David Melhuish, Scottish Property Federation; Don Peebles, CIPFA Scotland
Read the Official Report of the meeting of 21 September 2016
- Wednesday 28 September 2016: representatives from local government and a trade union:
Cllr Kevin Keenan and Jonathan Sharma, COSLA; Paul Manning, Scottish Local Government Partnership; Derek Yule, CIPFA Directors of Finance; Dave Watson, UNISON Scotland.
Read the Official Report of the meeting of 28 September 2016
- Wednesday 5 October 2016: Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution.
Derek Mackay, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution, Scottish Government.
Read the Official Report of the meeting of 5 October 2016
For further information on the work of the Committee you can contact the clerking team on 0131 348 6037 or by email at [email protected].