Council tax reduction in Scotland: 2016-2017

3. Weekly Income Foregone Estimates

The total CTR weekly income foregone for Scotland was £6.3 million in March 2017. Local authority figures for January to March 2017 are given in Table 3.

Table 3: CTR weekly estimate of income foregone (£000's) by Local Authority, January to March 2017 ^{1, 2, 3}

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 Weekly income foregone estimates are based on 'number of recipients multiplied by average weekly reduction' for each local authority and benefit type for the given month.

3 Figures are rounded to the nearest £100. Components may not sum to total due to rounding.

3.1 Weekly income foregone over time

The total weekly income foregone estimates for Scotland have decreased from £7.1 million in April 2013 to £6.3 million in March 2017. Income foregone estimates follow the same general pattern as the number of recipients, and all local authorities have seen a decrease in their weekly estimates since April 2013.

The number of CTR recipients and weekly income foregone are closely linked, with most of the change in income foregone being driven by changes in the number of recipients. Chart 8 shows the month-on-month percentage changes in the number of recipients and the weekly income foregone for April 2013 to March 2017.

Chart 8: Month-on-month percentage change in CTR recipients and weekly estimates of income foregone in Scotland, April 2013 to March 2017

Other factors that can affect the value of income foregone include Council Tax rates, age, structure of the population and household income. Chart 8 also shows small peaks in number of recipients and weekly income foregone at the beginning and middle of each calendar year, indicating a possible seasonal effect.

The weekly income foregone estimate for each local authority for each month between April 2016 and March 2017 are provided in the supplementary tables.

3.2 Average weekly awards by passported status

In March 2017, the average weekly award per CTR recipient was £12.72 per week. Average weekly award per recipient varied by both local authority and passported status; these figures are included in the supplementary tables.

Non-passported recipients who were in employment received the least on average per week at £9.94, compared to those on Income Support who received the most at £13.97. Passported income foregone will generally be higher as, by virtue of their income, these recipients will all be in receipt of full CTR. Chart 9 shows the average weekly award per recipient by passported status.

Chart 9: Average weekly award per recipients by passported status, March 2017

3.3 Average weekly awards by age and family type

Chart 10 shows the average weekly income foregone estimates by age group in March 2017. The 60-64 age band had the highest average weekly award at £13.32, and the under 25 age category had the lowest average weekly award at £11.83.

Chart 10: Average weekly award by age group, March 2017

Chart 11 shows the average weekly award by family type in March 2017. Single adults with no child dependents received the lowest average weekly award at £12.09 compared to couples with dependent children who had the highest average weekly award at £15.92.

Chart 11: Average weekly award by family type, March 2017