A significant and considered reform of council tax will take several years to take effect. Until it does, the Government should devolve power and responsibility for setting council tax to councils. This should include the power for individual councils to revalue properties in their area, define property bands, and set the rates for those bands. Individual councils should also be given the power to apply or remove discounts and premiums (such as the single person discount), and to determine th...

A significant and considered reform of council tax will take several years to take effect. Until it does, the Government should devolve power and responsibility for setting council tax to councils. This should include the power for individual councils to revalue properties in their area, define property bands, and set the rates for those bands. Individual councils should also be given the power to apply or remove discounts and premiums (such as the single person discount), and to determine the criteria for how they are applied. Councils using these powers will have a responsibility to justify their use to their electorates, who will hold them Type: recommendation | Number: 43 | Response status: not_accepted Government response: The Government does not accept the recommendation to devolve full responsibility for setting council tax to individual councils at this time. Council tax is already a localised tax – local authorities are responsible for setting tax levels, administering and c