Accountability and the Poll Tax: The Impact on Local Authority Budgets of the Reform of Local Government Finance in England

Abstract

In 1990 the United Kingdom government introduced major reforms to the system of local government finance in England. The most dramatic change was the replacement of domestic property taxation by a flat rate community charge, or poll tax. The government's principal argument for this reform was that it would enhance the accountability of local authorities to their electorates. This paper examines the nature of this accountability link, and develops measures of the extent to which the new arrangements have increased accountability. A model is presented which seeks to determine whether the changes in accountability have led to changes in the expenditure patterns of local authorities in the first year of the reforms. The results are negative, and this preliminary evidence therefore suggests that the accountability arguments for the reforms are spurious