Council Tax Reduction for almost half a million Scots

Scotland’s Chief Statistician has released the latest Council Tax Reduction (CTR) statistics. In September 2019, Scotland’s CTR scheme supported 471,790 households and the total weekly income forgone by local authorities was £6.57 million.

The total number of CTR recipients in September 2019 was 14.6% less (80,590 recipients) than it was at the beginning of the scheme in April 2013. Generally, the decline in the number of recipients has been gradual over this period. However, increases and reform to Council Tax and CTR in April 2017 and further increases in Council Tax in April 2018 and April 2019 has resulted in additional increases in income forgone.

The agreement between the Scottish Government and local government for locally determined Council Tax increases to be capped at 4.79% in 2019-20 reflects the increase in weekly income forgone since April 2019.

Background

The full statistical publication Council Tax Reduction in Scotland – July to September 2019 contains figures on CTR recipients and income forgone by local authorities, covering the time period from July to September 2019. The latest publication, further information on CTR and statistics for each month since April 2013 are available on the Scottish Government website.

The information published is used by the Scottish Government, interested bodies and the general public to monitor the number of people receiving CTR and the amounts being spent on the scheme. The figures are used to help distribute CTR funding for future years.

Tables showing CTR recipients and income forgone in each local authority will be published for each quarter in 2019-20. An annual compendium publication will be published in June 2020 covering the period from April 2019 to March 2020 and will include detailed information on CTR recipients and their characteristics.

Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff. Read more information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland.