Council Tax Reduction in Scotland, 2015-2016

2. Number of CTR recipients

The number of recipients for each local authority in January, February and March 2016 is shown in Table 2. The total number of recipients in Scotland decreased from 505,270 in December 2015 to 503,100 in January. The number then increased over the next two months to 504,980 recipients in March 2016.

Table 2: CTR Recipients by Local Authority, January to March 2016 ^{1, 2}

	Jan-16	Feb-16	Mar-16
SCOTLAND	503,100	504,160	504,980
Aberdeen City	13,590	13,580	13,630
Aberdeenshire	11,400	11,400	11,490
Angus	8,880	8,910	8,930
Argyll and Bute	7,170	7,180	7,230
Clackmannanshire	5,390	5,470	5,480
Dumfries and Galloway	13,540	13,580	13,590
Dundee City	18,250	18,370	18,430
East Ayrshire	14,300	14,260	14,280
East Dunbartonshire	5,690	5,730	5,750
East Lothian	7,540	7,510	7,520
East Renfrewshire	4,740	4,750	4,760
Edinburgh, City of	36,040	36,190	36,270
Eilean Siar	2,480	2,470	2,470
Falkirk	14,300	14,030	14,060
Fife	32,190	32,360	32,480
Glasgow City	93,250	93,540	93,610
Highland	17,510	17,540	17,610
Inverclyde	10,030	10,080	10,080
Midlothian	6,890	6,920	6,960
Moray	5,930	5,940	6,010
North Ayrshire	17,810	17,830	17,740
North Lanarkshire	38,700	38,620	38,560
Orkney Islands	1,260	1,250	1,260
Perth and Kinross	9,270	9,360	9,490
Renfrewshire	18,960	19,060	19,110
Scottish Borders	8,990	9,130	9,050
Shetland Islands	1,060	1,060	1,070
South Ayrshire	11,640	11,650	11,590
South Lanarkshire	31,780	31,870	31,890
Stirling	6,000	5,990	5,940
West Dunbartonshire	12,920	12,940	12,990
West Lothian	15,620	15,580	15,670

Notes:

¹ Recipients are as at monthly count date. See Methodology Notes, Section 2 for more details. Available at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Local-Government-Finance/Methodology/Ctaxreductionmethod

² Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Components may not sum to total due to rounding.

 

In March 2016, the five local authorities with the highest numbers of CTR recipients accounted for almost half (46 per cent) of the total for Scotland. Glasgow City accounted for the highest proportion, with 19 per cent (93,610 recipients) of the total; followed by North Lanarkshire, accounting for 8 per cent (38,560 recipients); Edinburgh City, accounting for 7 per cent (36,270 recipients); and Fife and South Lanarkshire, accounting for 6 per cent each (32,480 and 31,890 recipients respectively).

The three island local authorities had the smallest share of the caseload with only 0.5 per cent in Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar (2,470 recipients) and Orkney and Shetland accounting for 0.2 per cent each (1,260 and 1,070 recipients respectively).

Figure 3 shows CTR recipients by local authority for March 2016 in a treemap. This allows a visual comparison of the number of recipients in each local authority.

Figure 3: Treemap of CTR recipients by Local Authority, March 2016

Key:
1 = Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar
2 = Orkney Islands
3 = Shetland Islands
Clacks = Clackmannanshire
East Dunb. = East Dunbartonshire
East Renf. = East Renfrewshire
West Dunb. = West Dunbartonshire

 

2.1 CTR recipients over time

The number of households receiving CTR in Scotland fell from 552,380 in April 2013 to 504,980 in March 2016, a decrease of 8.6 per cent (47,400 recipients). Chart 1 shows the downward trend in the number of recipients over this period.

All local authorities in Scotland have seen a decrease in the number of CTR recipients since the scheme was introduced in April 2013. Chart 2 shows the percentage change between April 2013 and March 2016 for all local authorities in Scotland.

Chart 2: Percentage decrease in CTR recipients by local authority, April 2013 to March 2016

The largest percentage decreases in number of recipients were seen in Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar (13.9 per cent), Shetland (13.5 per cent) and East Ayrshire (11.8 per cent). It should be noted that, while Shetland and Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar had relatively large percentage decreases, these equate to relatively small actual numbers of recipients. The smallest decreases were seen in Clackmannanshire (3.5 per cent), North Ayrshire (5.6 per cent) and East Lothian (6.2 per cent).

The number of recipients for each local authority for each month between April 2015 and March 2016 are provided in the supplementary tables.

 

2.2 CTR recipients by passported status

In March 2016, passported recipients accounted for almost 70 per cent of all CTR recipients. The most common passporting benefits were income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit) which made up around a quarter of all CTR recipients each. The majority of non-passported recipients were not in employment.

Chart 3: CTR recipients by passported status, March 2016

The number of recipients by passported status and local authority in March 2016 is available in the supplementary tables. Some key variations across local authorities are:

• Glasgow had the highest proportion of passported CTR recipients (73 per cent).
• East Lothian and Midlothian had the lowest proportion of passported CTR recipients (62 per cent each).

The number of recipients by passported status for April 2015 to March 2016 is also available in the supplementary tables. The figures show that the number of passported CTR recipients has decreased more significantly over the period than those for non-passported recipients. This is consistent with wider economic recovery and improvement in the labour market over the period.

It should be noted that Universal Credit (UC) recipients are categorised as non-passported as their CTR award is based on the income assessment figures calculated during their UC application. As the roll-out of UC continues, the proportion of CTR cases classed as non-passported will increase.

 

2.3 CTR recipients by age and family type

Chart 4 shows the number of CTR recipients by age group in March 2016. The age group with the highest proportion of CTR recipients was 65 or over, at 38 per cent (189,860 recipients). The age group with the lowest proportion were those under 25 at four per cent (21,750 recipients).

Chart 4: CTR recipients by age group, March 2016

Chart 5 shows the number of CTR recipients by family type in March 2016. The majority of CTR recipients (65 per cent) were single with no child dependent. Lone parents made up 16 per cent, and around one-fifth were couples.

Chart 5: CTR recipients by family type, March 2016

 

2.4 CTR recipients by deprivation

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) ^[1] is the Scottish Government's official tool for identifying those places in Scotland suffering from deprivation. It divides Scotland into 6,505 datazones, each containing around 350 households or an average of 800 people. Each datazone has a calculated 'deprivation score' and these scores are then used to rank the datazones. Decile 1 contains the ten per cent most deprived datazones, Decile 2 the next ten per cent most deprived, and so on.

It should be noted that the overall SIMD score assesses deprivation across seven domains - income, employment, health, education, housing, geographic access to services and crime. The CTR scheme is principally concerned with income as a basis for making awards.

Chart 6 shows the spread of CTR recipients across areas of deprivation using SIMD deciles as described. It can be observed that CTR recipients are heavily concentrated in areas of highest deprivation, with 56 per cent of recipients in the lowest three deciles in March 2016.

Chart 6: CTR recipients by SIMD decile, March 2016

 

2.5 Full and partial CTR

Full CTR refers to recipients whose Council Tax liability is reduced to zero. Partial CTR refers to recipients whose Council Tax liability is reduced, but they are still liable to pay part of the total. Further details on these terms and how CTR is calculated are given in Section 1.1.

In March 2016, around two-thirds of CTR recipients (337,910) had been awarded full CTR as they were also in receipt of a passporting benefit. The other third of recipients underwent an income assessment. Following this a further one-tenth of recipients (52,530) were awarded full CTR and the remainder (114,540 recipients) were awarded partial CTR.

Of all CTR recipients, just over three-quarters (390,440) were in receipt of full CTR in March 2016.

Chart 7: CTR recipients by full or partial award, March 2016