Letter: Cost of freeze

I am writing following the article, "£3bn: the true cost of council tax freeze", and the corresponding commentary (11 May).

Any analysis which suggests that there is an unfunded 3.15 billion black hole to meet our commitment to freeze council tax for the duration of this parliament is wrong.

The Scottish Government has fully funded the freeze since it began in 2008-09, which refutes the suggestion by Professor David Bell that council services would have to be reduced in order to fund the freeze.

In fact, by the end of this parliament, the annual additional cost of extending the council tax freeze will be only 280 million and the cumulative cost of the freeze over the whole period it will have been in place equates to only around 1 per cent of the Scottish budget.

Extending the freeze for the remainder of this parliamentary term will be afforded by continuing our successful approach to efficiency savings and reforming the public sector.

Indeed, by the end of the Spending Review 2011 period (2014-15), total projected efficiency savings for the Scottish budget will be more than twice the total cost of the freeze over the same period, illustrating the affordability of the freeze as a result of the Scottish Government's successful approach to efficiency savings.

The council tax freeze is vital in helping hard-pressed families during difficult times for household finances when other bills are rising. For the 2008-12, the freeze saved the average Band D household over 300 and by extending the freeze for the lifetime of this parliament the same household will have benefited by around 1,200 in total based on an additional 70m being provided each year.

John Swinney

Finance Secretary

St Andrew's House

Edinburgh