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Incentivising socially responsible behaviours within the council tax regime

The problem

The idea

Essex County Council’s (ECC) ambition is for Essex residents to enjoy the best quality of life in Britain.  Public services have a part to play in making this happen, but public services alone will not be enough.  Those who lead local public services will need to think beyond the traditional modes of service provision and engage the ‘hidden wealth’ of communities and individuals in tackling social problems.

Citizens already have a stake in society.  In many cases they should be seen as local authority partners rather than consumers of services.  Only by working with citizens, families and communities can local authorities deliver reductions in crime and anti-social behaviour, waste and congestion or reduce demands for emergency care.

Nevertheless councils need to explore new ways to incentivise socially responsible behaviours.  Keen to move the debate beyond ‘pay-as-you-throw’ bin taxes and crude systems for charging service users, ECC is eager to explore prospects for rewarding responsible behaviour through the council tax regime.

Using existing legislation – and identifying any areas where legislative change would be required – ECC is keen to examine the feasibility of providing rewards, linked to council tax, in areas where individual and collective efforts reduce local service costs.  For example, localised increases in recycling rates could reduce costs for waste disposal authorities.  Savings could be passed on to individuals or communities in the form of council tax discounts, rebates or grants for local projects.

ECC recognises that there are practical issues to work through (the form that rewards might take; the impact they might have and how any reward system should be designed in a two-tier area).  If these issues can be addressed with the help of the Creative Councils initiative, this proposal could fundamentally change the relationship between local services and the citizens who fund these through council tax.

What we need

Essex County Council