4. Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Reforming Council Tax in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:55 pm on 7 December 2021.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 3:55, 7 December 2021

Thank you very much to Sam Rowlands for his questions this afternoon and the way in which he's approached what is a really, really significant undertaking over the course of the next Senedd term. And he does recognise the importance of consultation. And today I'm announcing that, in due course, next year, I'll be undertaking a consultation, a large-scale public consultation, in the order of around 12 weeks. And that's for the public, but also there'll be the need to undertake some really serious engagement with local government leaders and the revenues and benefits officers and so on. So, we're putting in place at the moment those structures to make sure that we have regular engagement. And I know that Sam Rowlands has particular expertise in this area, given his background in local government, so I'll be keen to explore his views on the proposals as they come forward and undertake some further discussions on that. 

There was a question in relation to non-domestic rates reform. So, today, what we're talking about is the future of reform of council tax. However, it is really important to recognise that non-domestic rates are another important part of that local government finance picture. Inside the document that I've referred to, the summary of findings—which, Deputy Llywydd, is a fantastic read and I commend it to all colleagues, as I've been doing since we published it in February—it does set out all of the research that we undertook over the course of the last Senedd term, looking at different options for council tax. So, it explores some of those radical options that Sam Rowlands was describing, such as a land value tax, but it also talks about the work we're starting to pursue in terms of reform of non-domestic rates. And that work is more in its infancy than the council tax work, because we've made so much progress over the last Senedd term. But, as I say, non-domestic rates are a really important part of that picture, and it's impossible, really, to see the two sides of that local government finance coin separately from each other. 

Some really important questions about any transitional arrangements and what the impacts might be on households. So, the Institute for Fiscal Studies undertook research for us over the course of the last Senedd term, and I'm really pleased that we were able to work closely with them on that. And it explores whether or not a less regressive system could be possible through the introduction of a revaluation or a revaluation with additional bands, or a proportional system without bands. And that does conclude in the research that our current system is now out of date, it's regressive, it's distortionary, although the research did also recognise that we're the only part of the UK to have revalued since the 1990s. And understanding now the impact of the revaluation on citizens, councils and local economies is going to be absolutely vital in taking this work forward. And the IFS work does help us to do that.

So, that work estimated that undertaking a revaluation and keeping the current nine bands would move around 25 per cent of properties up bands, 26 per cent would move down bands, and around 49 per cent would stay the same. But, obviously, there are implications in terms of different local authorities being affected in different ways. But part of what we're also looking at would be to increase the number of bands, which obviously would change that picture as well. So, lots of work for us to be doing as we move forward, but I think the questions that have been identified about the implications for households and for local authorities are the right ones and the ones that we'll need to pursue in the period ahead. And alongside that, then, to look at transitional arrangements for those households that might be affected. That's something that I'm keen to explore in due course, and also keen to have that engagement with the UK Government, and we'll be reaching out to them. I've talked to them, as I've talked to everybody since February, about the summary of findings document, and I've commended it to the UK Government as well.