ALLIANCE call for targeted cost of living support over a council tax freeze

Government support must prioritise those most affected by the crisis.

Following First Minister Humza Yousaf’s announcement to his party’s conference last week that he intends to freeze council tax in the 2024-25 Scottish Budget, the ALLIANCE have called on the Scottish Government to prioritise direct support for disabled people, people living with long term conditions, and unpaid carers.

The First Minister framed the proposed freeze as support for ongoing cost of living pressures. Whilst we welcome measures to support people during this crisis, we believe that a council tax freeze is a poorly targeted approach. The regressive nature of council tax means that much of the benefit of the freeze will go to the wealthier households, and we are concerned about the possible impacts on funding for local services such as social care. Households with lower incomes, many of whom are already in receipt of council tax reductions or exemptions but are hardest hit by the crisis, will receive little to no benefit from a freeze.

In February 2022 the Scottish Government provided a £150 council tax rebate to all homes in bands A to D. This was criticised by anti-poverty organisations and acknowledged by the then-Finance Secretary to be a poorly targeted measure, as the ALLIANCE noted in our ‘Disabled People, Unpaid Carers and the Cost of Living Crisis’ report last October.

That report highlighted the worrying circumstances facing people, including cutting back on heating, meals and charging essential assistive technologies, and resulting impacts on physical and mental health. Similar evidence was heard from across the sector when the Scottish Parliament’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee organised a round table discussion in direct response to our report.

The ALLIANCE therefore called for the Scottish Government to make emergency payments of £400 to two groups: people receiving any disability payment, and people receiving either Carer’s Allowance or the Winter Heating Payment. This was costed at £372 million. With the Fraser of Allander Institute identifying a minimum figure of £183 million to fund the council tax freeze next year, that could instead be used to fund payments on the same basis as our previous suggestion to a value of nearly £200 per payment.

Commenting on the proposals Sara Redmond, the ALLIANCE’s Chief Officer – Development said:

“People across Scotland are looking to the Scottish Government for support with the cost of living crisis, and we absolutely recognise the good intentions behind the proposed council tax freeze. However, the ALLIANCE are concerned that lessons haven’t been learned from previous experience of poorly targeted interventions via the council tax system, which didn’t go nearly far enough for those most affected by rising food, energy and transport costs.

The ALLIANCE and other third sector organisations have repeatedly highlighted deeply concerning examples of the decisions people are taking to cut costs. We urge the government to instead put the money it would otherwise spend on a council tax freeze towards more cleverly targeted support. Making direct social security payments to disabled people, people living with long term conditions and unpaid carers would offer more support to those facing the biggest challenges.”

Our policy team have also written a longer opinion piece about the freeze here.

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