Local Government Explained
This event is exclusively for LGIU member councils and free to attend.
Local government finance remains a critical area of concern in the sector. The Scottish Government’s reform proposals – including revaluation and new council tax bands for properties over £1m and £2m – remain relatively limited, despite repeated calls from parties, committees and commissions to replace council tax altogether.
This is the first of three sessions exploring the future of local government finance in Scotland. This session explores whether planned reforms go far enough, or whether more fundamental change is needed – such as a Land Value Tax or a new property tax. Running through it all is a fundamental question: how do we link local taxation to people’s ability to pay?
Key areas of focus
- What council tax is, and how it measures up against the Scottish Government's "good tax" principles.
- What revaluation and rebanding can, and can't, fix.
- The case for replacing council tax with a different property tax altogether, and how a local tax could be better linked to ability to pay.
Speakers
Dr Jonathan Carr-West, CEO of LGIU
Dr Lewis Forsyth, Policy Manager at Prosper: Author of "Assessing the council tax against the principles of 'good' tax policymaking" (SPICe Briefing, March 2026), completed during an Academic Fellowship at the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
David Phillips, Head of Devolved and Local Government Finance, Institute for Fiscal Studies: Co-author of "Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts," commissioned by the Scottish Government to inform its council tax engagement.
Susan Smith, President, British Academy: Author of "What future for residential property taxation in Britain?", setting out the case for replacing council tax, stamp duty and capital gains tax on residential property with a single property/land ownership fee.
Make sure to book onto the next two webinars:
Webinar 2: Back to basics: what is local government for, and what needs to be funded locally?
