The potential impact of reforms to the essential parameters of the council tax

Council Tax was introduced in Britain in 1993 and represents a unique international property tax. There is a growing belief that it is time to reform the number and structure of council tax bands but such views have a minimal empirical base. This paper sets out to assess the impact on personal and local government finances, and extends the analysis to the role of the tax multipliers linked to each band. The research is based on the experience of a representative sample of local authorities in Scotland. A statistical revaluation for 2000 is estimated for the existing eight band system, and from this base a ten band system is calculated. Financial implications are then simulated for each local authority taking account of central resource equalisation mechanisms. The results indicate that increases in bands will have little impact on the burden of the council tax compared with regular revaluations. Changing the tax multiplier range has the greatest impact on local authority finances and council tax payments

Local governance in the new Police Scotland:Renegotiating power, recognition and responsiveness

A marked, but by no means universal, trend in Europe over the last decade or so has been the centralization or amalgamation of regional police organizations into larger or single units. Scotland is a case in point, its eight regional services becoming one Police Scotland in April 2013. Although the reform process was relatively consensual, the new organization has been the subject of numerous controversies, some of which reflect an actual or perceived loss of the local in Scottish policing. Drawing on a qualitative study of the emerging local governance arrangements, we explore the negotiated character of large-scale organizational reform, demonstrating that it is best understood as a process not an event. We also argue that appeals to localism are not mere expressions of sentiment and resistance to change. They reflect the particular historical development of policing and public service delivery in Scotland at the level of municipal government, but also strong convictions that policing should be subject to democratic deliberation and should recognize and be responsive to those subject to it – what we argue here are necessary functions of police governance in general

Advice to new councils 4. Economic development

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Advice to new councils 8. Health and safety management

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Advice to new councils 6. The European Union - a key relationship with the new unitary authorities

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Guidance on preparing and implementing a multi-agency strategy to tackle violence against women

Includes bibliographical referencesAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:02/41156 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Advice to new councils 1. The first meeting

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Advice to new councils 10. Data Protection Act - check list for reorganisation

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Scottish guidance on contracting for residential and nursing home care for adults

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:OP-LG/8611 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Advice to new councils 2. Appointment of Head of Paid Service

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