41,065 households in South Lanarkshire to be battered by SNP council tax storm

Gloria Adebo, Liberal Democrat candidate for the Rutherglen & Hamilton West By Election has been putting the cost of living at the core of her campaign. She has now condemned the proposed Scottish Government changes to council tax as a demand for a quarter of families “to pay more for less”.

South Lanarkshire Liberal Democrats have set out how the SNP and Greens will hammer households with a storm of council tax rises in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, as the party revealed that under new Scottish Government proposals 41,065 households in South Lanarkshire will see council tax soar.

On 20th September a Scottish Government consultation on changes to council tax rates will conclude. Scottish Liberal Democrat analysis of the government’s proposals has now revealed 41,065 households in South Lanarkshire will see council tax rises ranging from £128.18 to £717.07. Across Scotland, 715,312 households will see council tax rises ranging from £124 to £835. Scotland currently has 2,562,357 chargeable dwellings. This means 28% of households will be hit by an additional council tax rise on top of any yearly increase.

Council tax bands are still based on valuations from 1991 or estimates based on what a property might have been worth for newer properties.

Commenting on the analysis, Gloria Adebo said:

“The SNP and Greens are planning on hammering households in Rutherglen, Cambuslang, Blantyre and Hamilton with a storm of council tax rises during the worst cost of living crisis for generations.

The SNP have been in government for 16 years promising to abolish the council tax. That’s more than half the period of existence of the tax which Nicola Sturgeon said she “hated”.

Now their new plan is to embed it, extend the lifetime of the current unfair system and hit almost a quarter of households with a massive extra bill at the worst possible time.

These changes would see bills go up and services still cut. People would be paying more for less. It won’t offset the SNP/Green Government’s systematic underfunding of local government which has devastated essential local services. 

After years of the SNP eroding council budgets and the impact that this has had on our essential services, we need to ensure local authorities are properly funded, but this proposal is not the solution. These tax hikes must be scrapped. The government should instead back Scottish Liberal Democrat plans that would deliver the power surge which councils need and end the underfunding of local government once and for all.”