McGrigor anger as Labour play council tax blame game

Responding to today’s news that average band D council tax bills are likely to rise significantly across the Highlands and Islands, MSP Jamie McGrigor said:

“The Labour/Liberal Scottish Executive blames the councils and the councils blame the Executive.

“While Labour and the Liberal Democrats play the blame game, local people are seeing more and more of their income go on paying the ever increasing council tax bill. Yet are we seeing improvements to levels of service?

“So far, all the increases announced are well above the 2.5% level the First Minister claims would be a reasonable increase. If Jack McConnell really wants to see increases kept low then he needs to cut back on his Executive’s ring fencing of local government funding and allow local councils to determine the funding priorities in their areas.

“Until he does this, council tax levels will increase while services are lost and quality standards decrease. This is the legacy of the Labour and Liberal Democrat Scottish Executive - higher council tax bills and less service”.