LEADING Portfolio Questions in the Chamber of the Scottish Parliament, I had the opportunity to question the Scottish Government's Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy regarding the much-reported SNP plans for reviewing - and subsequently reducing - the Council Tax single persons' discount with the following question:

“To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the single person discount for Council Tax."

The Minister replied that the SNP are not planning to review the Council Tax discount, to which I responded that it was encouraging to hear and the people of Fife will be initially delighted at that.

However, in a supplementary question, the Minister admitted that in relation to water charges, there has indeed been a consultation on ending the single-person water discount and she says there will be further research into this.

This is very worrying. Many of my constituents across Fife as a whole rely on that discount and any allowance such as this is particularly important for pensioners on fixed incomes, who have been genuinely worried.

I was initially delighted to hear the Minister categorically rule out a change in Council Tax but it was a kick in the teeth to be told that the SNP Government is currently conducting consultations and reviews by stealth, which ultimately, every time they do this, we see the end result of further increased costs for hard-working individuals, couples and pensioners.

This clearly is the thin end of the wedge and as we progress further we will see that the Scottish Government cannot be trusted with our money and any further reductions in well-deserved concessions, increased costs and even more people paying much more to receive even less.

ALEXANDER STEWART,

Shadow Minister for Local Government