Oh Jesus. They're freezing the council tax again.

[Rainbowshit]

It went so well last time. What are they thinking?!?!

I guess we can except a repeat of last time with massive hikes at some point in the future rather than a steady increase that's easier for folk to absorb. 🙈

Is this another thing they won't deliver? It only seems like last week that we were threatened with massive hikes?

I have no issue with normal rises, I mean everything has gone up so you can appreciate that council costs will be higher too.

Even a few pound extra might mean that small local services might be saved.

Sensible to introduce small increases . Assume they are so desperate for votes they will promise anything now that the clock is ticking and their well paid jobs are looking a tad shoogly

But the thing is it wasn’t going to be a steady increase, was it? It was going to be up to 22.5% for higher council tax bands, in which my own home is, which is a nice but fairly unremarkable 4 bed in a totally average village in central Scotland, and we are totally unremarkable earners - 22.5% would have had a significant impact on our already stretched finances. So IMO it’s just as bloody well they’ve frozen it, as it means I can, for example, pay for breakfast club for my eldest, which means I can go work to pay for the bloody rest of the council tax. Hopefully they go back to the drawing board and come up with a more sensibly structured plan for future rises in an actually steady fashion.

well thats different from what their election promise said than!! they were going to stop council tax altogether!! this way will result in councils being even more skint and more services going to the wall!! what do they hope to achieve with this stupid idea?? Oh, I know!!! voters for snp!!!!!

But that's the thing. If they hadn't frozen the council tax for years we would be having small increases that families could absorb. Instead we have to have massive jumps to make up for the shortfall.

Fine be happy with the freeze now but expect a lot of pain at some point in the future with ridiculous jumps.

Councils might just get rid of the breakfast clubs all together as part of more budget cuts.

Given they have slashed council block grants, how do they expect councils to pay for even essential services?

Councils have been starved of money for years. This is just a desperate attempt to win votes.

Doesn’t Humza think we need council services? See north Lanarkshire council deciding to close swimming pools. That’s the sort of thing that will proliferate now. He is such an idiot (or he kows he’s finished so sod the consequences after the next election).

Have they learned nothing!
Humdrum just desperately throwing out policies/bribes

Looks like the 6 inch pot hole on my road won't get fixed then. But at least it means there is less traffic - drivers take the long way round.

I think it's all part of a bigger plan to remove control from councils to holyrood. Starve them of cash and then Humza rides in on his white horse giving money to save things... Not his money you understand, Westminster money robbed from something else. In the meantime he can also blame Westminster for starving the councils.

Or maybe that's giving them too much benefit of having a plan?

But then he's happy to fund terrorists to the tune of £500k...

Do councils provide breakfast clubs? All private providers here.

@MyGooseisTotallyLoose Councils will be different, but my LA provides breakfast clubs and wrap around care.

Have already been suggested before as budget cuts.

@BigBoysDontCry

Terrorists ?! Have you no heart?! You should be ashamed of yourself.

So the whole increase on E and over council bands has gone the way of the dodo now. Council tax is a weird way to pay for local services, but I prefer steady increases to crazy jumps. I would rather pay the extra £100 a year than have to watch the leisure centres and libraries shut. Not to mention all the other crumbling infrastructure.

Council tax should always increase with inflation if we want actual services. Council staff are striking for pay rises in line with inflation so councils have to have income in line with inflation.
fair enough to delay/abandon a big “catch up” but a freeze is just daft.

It's such a terrible idea. I value local services. I happily pay for them, even those I don't use. It's easier to budget smaller increases annually than whacking great increases every decade.

Councils are strapped for cash. All the savings have already been made.

I really hope the SNP are voted out asap.

if Glasgow Lifecan locate their missing £3m Rodin statue that might help plug a gap in leisure services

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-67120692

It just shows how financially/economically illiterate their voters are. They are promising better services on less money.

I couldn’t believe it when I heard about this, Yusless is off his fucking chump. Local authorities are dying on their feet because of their last freeze nonsense…do you think he’s going for “slash and burn”…as per usual trying to appeal to the more easily bought lower economic groups for votes

Yes. I can't understand how anyone can think this is a good idea.

No increase in council tax, but a decrease in public services

Only for band E and above again probably, ie people like me in my small 3 bed suburban semi 🙁

Surely a small rise across the board is better than either a) nothing or b) hammering those in band e or above. Most people could stretch to £10/20 a month.