The statement was part of Mr Yousaf's first SNP conference speech as leader. Photo: Peter Summers/Getty Images Europe
Humza Yusuf faces the risk of a protest from his own councilors after announcing a council tax freeze for Scots without informing city halls.
Cosla, the body representing Scottish councils, said There was “real anger” over the surprise move, with the most attention-grabbing announcement from Mr Yousaf's first SNP conference speech as leader.
With his party suffering heavy losses in next year's general election, the First Minister reinstated the freeze, which was introduced under Alex Salmond but overturned by Nicola Sturgeon, in a bid to win back the support of the Scottish middle class.
< p>It was a sharp departure from previous plans to increase council tax bills by 7.5 to 22.5 per cent for properties in the top four bands, in addition to the overall increase councils have been planning since April.
Shona Morrison, an SNP councilor in Moray and president of Khosla, said the organization had demanded an urgent meeting with Mr Yousaf and hinted it might backtrack on his core policies.
Mr Yousaf insisted that the freeze would be “fully funded” but declined to say how much councils would receive if they agreed not to increase bills. The majority planned an increase of 5–10 percent.
“There is no agreement to freeze council tax next year, the decision to freeze council tax can only be made by councils,” Ms Morrison said in a statement.
“Our cross-party group leaders first thing this morning held an emergency meeting about the announcement and there is real anger about how it was handled and the risk it poses.”
“The freeze was regressive.
Khosla said the announcement breached the so-called Verity House Agreement that Mr Yousaf signed with councils in June.
The deal included a financial framework for councils to be put into place. place by last month – ensuring there are no “surprises” in the Budget announcements.
Ms Morrison added: “We regret the way the [council tax] announcement was made and its contents, both the other is contrary to the Verity House Agreement that we all recently signed.”
“It was shown that previous council tax freezes were regressive, having no impact on the poorest in society and eroding council tax bases, exacerbating ongoing underfunding of councils.”
Mr Yousaf's surprise move is believed to be try to rebuild support among younger, more ambitious voters, who research shows are leaving the SNP for Labour.
However, the Scottish Government was already struggling to fund existing services, and the situation was made worse after it agreed a number of generous wage deals for public sector workers.
Mr Yousaf said he wanted to help people with “above average wages” who were also struggling with rising costs.
He said : “It's only right that in this cost of living crisis we try to help them with bills that go up and up and up. The only bill we can help them with is council tax.”
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