14.12.1995

Watershed over water charges

SCOTLAND’S unitary authorities will very soon have to show which side they are on. If they were true partisans of the working class then the decision over the collections of the new water charges would be no problem. However, as loyal agents of Tory misrule, in the name of keeping within the law, they will once more impose misery on the working class of Scotland by administering the new charges from April 1 next year.

Water and sewage will be taken out of local authority control in Scotland and placed in the hands of unelected quangos which will establish the new water boards. The government is obviously clearing the way for privatisation with the problems of debt, dysentery and disconnections that this has brought in England and Wales.

The local authorities are being instructed to act as billing and collecting agents for the new boards. The legislation expects councils to issue combined council tax and water bills “in the interests of efficiency and ease of administration”.

Our new council leaders, who happen to be the same old bunch of chancers as our old council leaders, instead of saying no to the collection and refusing to participate in the privatisation of Scotland’s water, are haggling over the administration fee they will be paid for acting Judas.

If people do not pay, there is no provision for services to be cut off in Scotland. It will be up to the council to collect the payment via wages and benefit arrestment and by sending in Sheriff’s officers to conduct warrant sales.

With the poll tax, the councils could at least argue that if they had refused to administer the poll tax, then individual councillors would be surcharged. They do not even have that argument to hide behind. There is no reason why the authorities could not put up a fight and refuse to collect.

The Hands Off Our Water campaign is intent on mounting a campaign of mass defiance and non-payment. Potentially it could be as big as the poll tax campaigns, but it will have the problem of clearing up any confusion over what element of the council tax bill makes up the water charges. Then it will have to defend people from the warrant sales and the Sheriff’s officers. We have the experience of the poll tax to draw on and the lesson that when the working class is united it can win against the Tory government and the Labour council collaborators.

Mary Ward