East Lothian’s SNP Group and sole Green councillor have voted to back their government’s proposal to hike council tax for properties in bands E to H, a move that it is estimated would hit over 19,500 local households.

The SNP Government is currently consulting on the planned change, which would see local households facing council tax bill increases of between £141 and £791 in addition to any other annual increases to the council tax charge. The consultation follows years of brutal budget cuts to Council budgets which have left East Lothian Council facing a £27 million budget deficit due to the growth in demand for Council Services.

Analysis by Scottish Labour has found that the hike could also hit over 80,000 low-income households across Scotland, as 13.7% of low-income households live in a dwelling with a council tax band E or over.

The SNP and Green councillor backed their government at this week’s East Lothian Council meeting, where Labour councillors voted against the tax bombshell.

Cllr Norman Hampshire, Labour Leader of the Council, said:

“The SNP’s damaging council tax hike will hit nearly 20,000 households in East Lothian during the worst cost of living crisis in decades, piling pressure on people already facing impossible financial decisions.

“Under the SNP, councils have been cut to the bone. The SNP-Green government now want council taxpayers, some of whom are among the poorest in Scotland, to make up for their failure to properly fund vital local services.

“Local Labour councillors will stand up for people struggling with soaring living costs and fight for a fair funding deal for East Lothian.”