In recent weeks, growing alarm over the fragility of local council finances has sparked debate – not least over whether replacing Council Tax with a national Proportional Property Tax (PPT) would risk further centralising power in an already overextended state. It is a fair question. But it also reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of what Council Tax is today, how distorted and inequitable it has become, and how the PPT can enable, not suppress, local democracy.
Council Tax: Local in Name Only
Let us be clear: Council Tax is not a local tax in any meaningful democratic sense. It is based on property valuations frozen in 1991, determined and maintained by central government. Local authorities operate within a rigid framework set by Whitehall, with limited discretion over bands, caps on increases, and ever-increasing complexity in exemptions and subsidies.
This is not localism. This is an outdated, opaque, and centrally imposed tax that punishes those in modest homes in low-income areas, and protects million-pound property owners in high-value postcodes.
A Smarter, Fairer Foundation
The Proportional Property Tax, in contrast, brings fairness, transparency and simplicity. It links what people pay to what their property is actually worth today, a principle that should be the bedrock of any serious property taxation system. Crucially, it does not remove fiscal responsibility from councils; rather, it provides them with a broader, fairer, and more sustainable tax base from which to deliver services.
Under PPT, local authorities retain discretion over how to spend the funds they raise. Fairer Share has always been open to local calibration mechanisms – such as local multipliers, hardship relief schemes, or ring-fenced supplements for infrastructure. Councils could have more tools, not fewer, under a modernised system.
Empowering Councils, Not Undermining Them
Our proposal empowers local government not just with better funding, but with a mandate to be honest and transparent with their residents. The current Council Tax system thrives in shadows – with arbitrary banding, invisible subsidies, and bewildering bureaucracy. PPT, by contrast, is built to be clear and accountable.
It is also worth addressing the broader political fear: that reform will be used to consolidate control in Westminster. That is neither our aim nor our recommendation. In fact, we see PPT as an opportunity to spark a genuine fiscal devolution conversation. Give local authorities a modern revenue base, and then let us talk about what powers should follow.
The Real Threat to Local Democracy
The real overreach is clinging to a system that no longer works, and pretending that inaction is a defence of localism. It is not. Local government is being hollowed out by stealth, forced into impossible budget decisions under an archaic tax regime that penalises prudence and entrenches inequality.
Give councils the foundation they need to thrive. The Proportional Property Tax is not about centralising power. It is about setting local government free.