Cost Of The Poll Tax Bureaucracy

EDM number 835 in 1989-90, proposed by John Home Robertson on 03/04/1990.

That this House notes that the poll tax registration officer for Lothian Region is taking legal action to force Lothian Regional Council to appoint a further 48 poll tax officials; recalls criticisms of the Council by the Secretary of State for Scotland on grounds of alleged overspending; welcomes the responsible action of the Council in protecting local services, including pensioners' free bus passes, and its prudent efforts to avoid further wasteful spending on the poll tax, which already has more than double the administrative costs of the rating system; agrees that the employment of 48 more poll tax staff would not be in the best interests of Lothian poll tax payers; and calls on the Government to abandon the poll tax on the grounds that it has now been shown to be as inefficient as it is unfair.

This motion has been signed by a total of 39 MPs.