TAXES have traditionally been raised from local householders in the form of council tax – the revenue raised in East Lothian has then been spent on local East Lothian services.

Alas, it has all been blown apart by the SNP.

They have severed this long-established link of raising taxes locally and spending revenue locally.

Talking to residents on their doorsteps in East Lothian, they are generally happy to pay a little bit extra on their council tax, as long as it benefits services in their area.

This new SNP ‘stealth tax’ will see Scottish Government increase council tax bands E-H from April 2017 and centralise the funds to close the attainment gap throughout Scotland.

Even though East Lothian Council have the ability to raise taxes by a further three per cent, they will be net losers to the tune of £1.5 million in 2017/18 and by over £6 million by 2021.

I’m astounded that the SNP didn’t reintroduce the window tax, a property tax based on the number of windows in a house – a significant social and cultural force in Scotland, Ireland, England and France during the 18th and 19th centuries. No wonder householders avoiding the tax can still be identified by noting their bricked-up window-spaces.

Centralisation is the key theme here and sadly we’ve seen SNP ministers preside over a Government hell-bent on stripping away local accountability – the police force, hospital funding, colleges, sheriff courts, wind farm planning applications and now council tax.

When will this concentration of central government power stop?

The SNP are out of touch with local democracy and local communities no longer have a voice.

In September, the Scottish Parliament gained new welfare powers through the Scotland Act 2016. The Scottish Parliament will now be able to legislate to create entirely new benefits and also to make significant changes to UK benefits that people already receive.

These are important new powers that will sit side-by-side with Holyrood’s new tax-raising powers.

Last week, I asked the Scottish Government if there were enough staff to facilitate these changes and help those in East Lothian with migration to universal credit.

The minister admitted that the Scottish Government did not know if appropriate numbers of staff would be available and I wasn’t surprised by the minister’s dismissive answer that the Scottish Government are reluctant to engage with the UK Government to ensure a smooth transition of new powers.

Reassuringly, however, East Lothian Council have bent over backwards to ensure there are plenty of experienced staff to answer calls and queries to protect the most vulnerable in our society with regard to the transition to universal credit.