ABSTRACT
Many commentators and analysts regard the funding and taxing of local government as a particularly thorny or 'wicked' problem. This chapter provides the history of this problem, and outlines why it remains difficult to resolve in a rational, progressive and, critically, politically acceptable way. It examines the set of Scottish local government finance relationships. The chapter suggests that more closely at the 2015 Commission on Local Tax Reform, charged by the Scottish Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to examine alternatives to the present system of council tax. It also suggests that possible ways of reforming local taxes in Scotland. Local government in Scotland is organised into 32 single-tier authorities. Local government delivers a range of services, which can be divided into the local delivery of national services and more genuinely local services for their citizens and those that combine both aspects.
