TO be fair to Stuart McMillan MSP he has consistently supported every nationally imposed council tax freeze over the last 17 years and continues to flog this dead horse for all that it is worth (‘View from the Chamber’, 21 March), just like his former SNP colleague Chris McEleny, who is now the Alba Party’s top political strategist.

Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon or Humza Yousaf, it doesn’t matter. When the First Minister says “jump” Stuart says, “how high?”.

It is only a surprise that after 17 years of loyal service to the cause he hasn’t been appointed to the ministerial ranks. In contrast the neighbouring SNP MSP was appointed as a minister less than two years after becoming an MSP.

While Mr McMillan might be celebrating what he believes to be a victory he will soon realise it is a pyrrhic one.

The people of Inverclyde and Scotland are not daft. They realise that if you spend £210m of public money on a council tax freeze that money is not available to spend on vital public services.

Poll after poll is now showing that voters place a greater weight on good public services than they do on tax cuts. I am sure the Covid pandemic has helped shape this view.

Personally, I have been decidedly underwhelmed by the number of complaints I received about the 8.2 per cent increase in council tax.

Most people know the freeze is nothing more than a pre-election stunt by a desperate First Minister hoping to save SNP seats that are under threat, including here in Inverclyde.

The freeze fundamentally undermines the SNP’s own arguments in favour of progressive taxation.

They have consistently claimed they are raising additional funding from income tax to protect public services in Scotland, a policy I personally support, and have criticised the UK Government for cutting national insurance in the autumn statement and the spring budget rather than investing in public services, a criticism I would endorse.

Yet they have imposed a regressive freeze in council tax in 2024/25, at the expense of cuts to local services and jobs across Scotland, which will provide no help low-income households.

In Inverclyde up to 28 per cent of households won’t pay anymore under an 8.2 per cent council tax rise as they are either exempt or in receipt of council tax reduction. The average weekly increase for those households who pay full council tax is less than £2.

Forty-six per cent of Inverclyde households are in band A and their weekly increase is £1.50. Sixteen per cent of households are in band B and their weekly increase is £1.75. Ten per cent of households are band C and their weekly increase is £2.00. So, 72 per cent of Inverclyde households who pay full Council Tax will pay £2 or less a week extra.

Another 9 per cent of households are in band D and their weekly increase is £2.25. Ten per cent of households are in band E and their weekly increase is £2.96. Five per cent of households are in band F and their weekly increase is £3.66. Four per cent of households are in band G and their weekly increase is £4.42. Finally, less than 1 per cent of households are in band H and their weekly increase is £5.52.

While I may now have agreed to use the £2.9m on offer from the Scottish Government to implement a council tax discount in 2024/25, I know that this money could have been put to much better use, including on stopping cuts to local social care services.

Councils in Scotland are in a financial crisis with a number on the verge of effective bankruptcy. The centrally imposed council tax freeze will hasten that day.

The people of Inverclyde and Scotland will pay the price in the years to come. I hope that when the cuts start to bite those of you who grudged paying a few pounds a week extra to protect our services will realise how wrong you were.

Councillor Stephen McCabe

Leader of the Council