Local tax for local people
A fantastic piece in the Evening Standard today by Jonathan Freedland on the fairest way to reform council tax. [Can't find a link as yet.]
He responds to leaks suggesting that Sir Michael Lyons’s soon-to-be published review of local finance will add bands to the top end of the council tax scale, adding as much as £4,400 to some people’s bill.
Freedland is spot on when he talks of council tax reform as a ‘third rail’ - instant political death for any politician who champions it and as a result, long overdue.
Bravely, he champions a policy from the 2005 Liberal Democrat manifesto – local income tax – as the solution.
I remember studying this through an early-morning alcoholic fug at Cardiff Journalism School, recognising it as a good idea in principle, but flawed due to the disparity in collectable income between poor and rich councils.
But Freedland imports an idea from the US: redraw municipal boundaries so that no one area can be exclusively rich or poor. Redistribution of funds would be managed locally, without need for costly and time-consuming involvement on the part of the Treasury.
But when the Lyons report comes out - undoubtedly amid considerable middle class outrage - what politician with an ounce of nous is likely to grasp the live rail?
Not one who wants to keep his seat at the next election. QED.
A fantastic piece in the Evening Standard today by Jonathan Freedland on the fairest way to reform council tax. [Can't find a link as yet.]
He responds to leaks suggesting that Sir Michael Lyons’s soon-to-be published review of local finance will add bands to the top end of the council tax scale, adding as much as £4,400 to some people’s bill.
Freedland is spot on when he talks of council tax reform as a ‘third rail’ - instant political death for any politician who champions it and as a result, long overdue.
Bravely, he champions a policy from the 2005 Liberal Democrat manifesto – local income tax – as the solution.
I remember studying this through an early-morning alcoholic fug at Cardiff Journalism School, recognising it as a good idea in principle, but flawed due to the disparity in collectable income between poor and rich councils.
But Freedland imports an idea from the US: redraw municipal boundaries so that no one area can be exclusively rich or poor. Redistribution of funds would be managed locally, without need for costly and time-consuming involvement on the part of the Treasury.
But when the Lyons report comes out - undoubtedly amid considerable middle class outrage - what politician with an ounce of nous is likely to grasp the live rail?
Not one who wants to keep his seat at the next election. QED.
Labels: council tax, jonathan freedland, local income tax
posted by Rob Davies at 9:03 PM
2 Comments:
Redrawing political boundaries isn't quite as easy as you make out though. Some English boroughs have been around for centuries. Redrawing the boundaries seemingly arbitrarily would strip them of legitimacy.
I'm all for greater localisation however. The taxing question is how to achieve it though...
Nick K
The problem with blogging is that nothing is as easy as it sounds when you're limited to about 300 words before people switch off.
But you're right, it isn't as simple as all that. However, if we want to see any kind of radical improvement, we must be prepared for a dramatic, and perhaps painful, overhaul of very old boundaries.
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