Minister for everything

Scotland's finance and sustainable growth secretary, John Swinney, has just managed to do what some of his critics thought was impossible: persuading local authorities of all political persuasions to freeze council tax. His first big test was convincing the sceptics that the Scottish National P...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public Finance 2008-03, p.22
Main Author: Swinney, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Civil service
Councils
Fiscal policy
Local government
Municipal taxation
Parliaments
Personal profiles
Political leadership
Public officials
Swinney, John
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Summary:Scotland's finance and sustainable growth secretary, John Swinney, has just managed to do what some of his critics thought was impossible: persuading local authorities of all political persuasions to freeze council tax. His first big test was convincing the sceptics that the Scottish National Party could implement its manifesto pledge on council tax. To get his budget through the Parliament, Swinney had to win support from a rival party due to the SNP's lack of an overall political majority. So he reached out to the Conservatives and offered to amend his budget to comply with some of their demands. These included increasing the number of police officers and speeding up a reduction in business rates. Swinney managed to swing the council tax freeze by offering a L70 million incentive that even skeptical and nonSNP councils found hard to resist. While the new government appears to have gained increased public support, opinion polls continue to suggest that the majority of people do not want an independent Scotland. His toughest test of all, in the longer term, is likely to be whether he can convince critics that a local income tax can work and win enough support to get the legislation through the Parliament.
ISSN:1352-9250