LOCAL authorities are threatening to take court action against the Scottish Government over fears that ministers are poised to impose the council tax freeze illegally.
Council leaders have been told by lawyers that John Swinney, the finance secretary, is in danger of breaching local authorities' legal autonomy by allocating the £70 million he has set aside to halt increases in the tax.
The Scotsman has learned t
hat confidential legal advice to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), states that paying only some councils for freezing their council tax could constitute a breach of legislation.
Under laws which date back to the 1950s, ministers have the power to pay grants to local authorities for services they deliver. But the legal advice to Cosla is that giving money for the council tax freeze to only those authorities which agree to the policy does not count in law as a payment for a service.
Last night, Rory Mair, Cosla's chief executive, took a strong line with the Scottish Government, with whom the organisation has signed an agreement – known as a concordat – to work together to provide a range of services and to freeze council taxes at current levels.
Mr Mair said: "If we thought this was questionable, we would have to go back to John Swinney and threaten to take this to judicial review. Just because we have signed the concordat, we cannot allow the basic legal relationship between central government and local government to be destroyed.
"I cannot allow (Mr Swinney] to impose a methodology that is not proper. The basic principle is that all councils have got to be treated fairly and equally."
Andy Kerr, Labour's local government spokesman, said: "This shows yet more of the SNP's plans unravelling before our eyes."
The threat of legal action from Cosla is a setback for Mr Swinney, who has set aside the £70 million to give to councils who agree to freeze the council tax.
Ministers have stated that councils which do not halt increases in council tax will not qualify for their share of the money.
It is understood that Scottish Government officials are aware of the possible legal problem and have also taken advice from lawyers to try to find a way to make the payments legally.
Last night, a spokesman for the Scottish Government said: "We will implement the council tax freeze in a way that is legal."
The full article contains 406 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
