Quite clearly, the present basis of the council tax needs to be changed. It is as unfair as the old system. Nowhere can you now buy a new house in the A to D Bands.

Since Brighton and Hove became a unitary authority in 1997, the council tax has risen by 38 per cent, whereas the cost of living over the same period has risen only 10.6 per cent.

This means the tax is a much greater burden on pensioners than those working whose income will have risen by higher amounts.

Many pensioners are now on fixed incomes due to the low annuity rates and thus are seeing their standard of living reducing due to the inequality of the council tax.

The only equitable system is a local income tax paid through the PAYE system, then those not paying tax would not pay council tax and those with greater incomes would pay more.

-B Bayliss, Mornington Crescent, Hove