Official figures reveal that Band D Council Tax payers across Scotland on average pay £619 a year less than they would in Tory-run England and £430 less than in Labour-run Wales, thanks to the SNP Government’s nine years of council tax freezes since 2008.
In 2018, the Labour administration on North Ayrshire Council infamously put forward a budget proposal to hit local residents with a 12.5% council tax hike which the SNP group voted against, instead backing a modest 3% increase to invest in communities across North Ayrshire.
In 2021/22, the SNP Government paid North Ayrshire Council (NAC) £2.182 million to stop it from hitting North Ayrshire households with a 3% increase during COVID, effectively freezing it again last year.
Kenneth Gibson MSP said:
“The SNP Government is doing all it can within its restricted powers and resources to keep as much money as possible in the pockets of Scottish families.
“In England’s East Midlands, band D properties are being charged £2,300 this year – nearly £1,000 more than in Scotland – and they have to pay £9.35 for prescriptions, £20-£25 for eye tests, up to £282.80 for their dental care and many other charges that with the SNP Government here in Scotland we do not.
“NAC’s Labour administration has already demonstrated that they have no qualms about increasing Council Tax for North Ayrshire households by a whopping 12.5% and the Tories have cut local government funding in England so drastically, that charges have skyrocketed.
“The only way to safeguard a reasonable level of Council Tax is clearly to vote SNP in the Council elections on 05 May and keep an SNP Government in Holyrood.”
Council tax across Scotland is lower than in England – for 2022/23, the average Band D Council Tax bill in Scotland is £1,347 compared to £1,966 in England and £1,777 in Wales.
For 2022/23, the average charge for all property bands, including E, F, G and H, is between £413 and £651 lower in Scotland than England.
ENDS
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