Fairer Council Tax: consultation and proposals: FOI release

Information requested

1. How much money has been spent on the Scottish Government looking into the Fairer Council Tax proposal over the last five years, with a breakdown of each year and what the money has been spent on?

2. How many consultations has the government published about this topic and similar policies on the Fairer Council Tax proposal over the last ten years, with a list of these?

3. All briefings prepared for ministers regarding the Fairer Council Tax proposal between January 2023 and the date of this FOI.

Response

Response to your request

I have addressed each of your requests separately, and the response is provided under the associated headings below.

1. How much money has been spent on the Scottish Government looking into the Fairer Council Tax proposal proposal over the last five years, with a breakdown of each year and what the money has been spent on?

The aim of the Scottish Government is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information under the terms of your request because the Scottish Government does not hold that information.

The Scottish Government does not hold information which breaks down staff cost, or staff time, committed to the delivery of the Fairer Council Tax Consultation. The Council Tax Team and Local Taxation Unit, and analysts that supported the delivery of the consultation, work across a number of aspects of Local Tax policy and their time cannot be disaggregated from other demands.

The cumulative cost of the Fairer Council Tax consultation is £48,039.52. This relates only to the cost of publishing the Fairer Council Tax consultation, and the cost of an independent third party to analyse the consultation responses.

2. How many consultations has the government published about this topic and similar policies on the Fairer Council Tax proposal over the last ten years, with a list of these?

I have considered your request for Scottish Government “consultations about similar policies to relation to Fairer Council Tax proposal”, to mean any published consultation documents which seek views on
Council Tax property band charge proportion (Multipliers) changes.

The Fairer Council Tax consultation that published on 12 July 2023 is the only Scottish Government consultation which has sought views on changes to Council Tax multipliers.

While not under the terms of your request, you might be interested to know that in 2015 the Commission on Local Tax Reform published its report on alternatives to the present Council Tax system in Scotland. The Commission had membership of representatives from four political parties, and from local and central government working alongside experts in public finance, law, housing, welfare and equalities. The Commission had calls for written and oral evidence to inform its work, which did include consideration of the Council Tax Band D property rate, and each of the other band’s charges as a fixed proportion of that Band D rate.

Following the conclusion of the Commission’s work, changes were made to the Council Tax proportions for Bands E to H with effect from 1 April 2017. A formal consultation was not considered to be necessary as the changes implemented a manifesto commitment and were informed by the work of the Commission on Local Tax Reform. I have attached the Volume 2 technical annex of the final report from the Commission on Local Tax Reform, because it provides information reflecting on the evidence they ingathered, including on Council Tax Band proportions.

3. All briefings prepared for ministers regarding the Fairer Council Tax proposal between January 2023 and the date of this FOI.

My investigations have identified 6 documents within scope under the terms of your request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested, because exemptions under s.29(1)(a) (Formulation/development of government policy), s.29(1)(b) (ministerial communication), S.29(1)(c) (legal advice), s.30(b)(i) (Substantial inhibition to free and frank provision of advice), and s.38 (1)(b) (personal data of a third party) of FOISA applies to that information. The exemptions recognise the need for Ministers to have a private space within which to seek advice and views from officials before reaching the settled public position. Disclosing the content of free and frank briefing material would inhibit such briefing in the future, particularly because discussions with Local Government are still ongoing and final decisions.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that in certain part of the documents provided, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.

We recognise that there is some public interest in release because as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing a private space within which officials can provide free and frank advice and views to Ministers in briefing. It is clearly in the public interest that Ministers receive full and candid advice from officials to enable them to make informed decisions. Premature disclosure of this type of information could lead to a reduction in the comprehensiveness and frankness of such advice and views in the future, which would not be in the public interest.

We are able to provide some of the information you have requested, within the scope of your request. However, some of that information is exempt under section s.38(1)(b), of FOISA apply to that information. An exemption under section s.38 (1)(b) of FOISA applies to data that it is considered to be the personal data of a third party.

Therefore, in the documents that fall within the scope of your request, I have redacted in accordance with the exemptions set out above, and information not in the scope of your request.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202300387208 - Information Released - Annex

File type

47 page PDF

File size

3.2 MB