Council Tax Reduction in Scotland: 2023-2024
Council Tax Reduction (CTR) awarded by age, household structure, income sources and employment status, deprivation index, and Council Tax band in the financial year from April 2023 to March 2024. It makes references to the previously published March 2023 for comparative purposes.
2. Number of CTR Recipients
CTR data is reported monthly and this section presents analysis of CTR recipient numbers in 2023-24. The number of CTR recipients for each month from March 2023 to March 2024 is shown in Figure 4. The total number of CTR recipients in Scotland increased from 454,350 in March 2023 to 461,550 in March 2024, an increase of 1.6 per cent during this period. The largest increase (1.4 per cent) in CTR recipients was observed in May 2023 compared to the previous month. The number of CTR recipients in each month remained above the record low of 454,180 in December 2022.
Figure 4: The total number of CTR recipients in Scotland increased over the year
CTR recipients (000s), March 2023 to March 2024, Scotland
The number of CTR recipients in Scotland increased between April and May 2023 then remained relatively stable until December. There was a one month downtick in January before increasing to 461,550 CTR recipients in March 2024. This is a contrast to the overall decrease seen in 2022-23. The largest increase was recorded in May 2023 as shown in Figure 5, when the total number of CTR recipients in Scotland increased from April by 1.4 per cent (6,390 CTR recipients).
Figure 5: The largest monthly change was seen in May 2023 compared with the previous month
CTR recipients by monthly percentage change, March 2023 to March 2024, Scotland
Figure 6 shows most local authorities recorded an increase in CTR recipients between March 2023 and March 2024 (26 out of 32 local authorities), with the largest percentage increase seen in Perth and Kinross (6.1 per cent) followed by North Ayrshire (5.4 per cent) and Aberdeen City (5.3 per cent) over this period. Six local authorities recorded a decrease during this period, with the largest percentage decrease seen in Dundee (-2.2 per cent).
Figure 6: The majority of local authorities saw an increase in CTR recipients over the year
CTR recipients by local authority, percentage change between March 2023 and March 2024, Scotland
Details of CTR recipients and income forgone since the inception of CTR are available in the Recipients and Income Forgone tables published monthly.
Figure 7 shows the number of CTR recipients by local authority as a proportion of the Scottish CTR population for March 2024 in descending order. It can be seen that Glasgow City accounted for the highest proportion, with almost one-fifth of all CTR recipients in Scotland which is more than twice the number of CTR recipients in North Lanarkshire (the next highest ranking authority).
The five local authorities with the highest numbers of CTR recipients accounted for almost half (46 per cent) of the total number of CTR recipients for Scotland in March 2024, similar to March 2023. These local authorities also have the highest numbers of chargeable dwellings, therefore it is expected that they will have a larger number of CTR claimants and recipients. These five local authorities are:
- Glasgow City accounting for 18.2 per cent (83,930 CTR recipients);
- North Lanarkshire accounting for 7.6 per cent (35,170 CTR recipients);
- South Lanarkshire accounting for 6.8 per cent (31,250 CTR recipients);
- City of Edinburgh accounting for 6.6 per cent (30,670 CTR recipients); and
- Fife accounting for 6.4 per cent (29,600 CTR recipients).
In contrast, the three island authorities accounted for just 0.9 per cent when combined together, with 0.4 per cent in Na h-Eileanan Siar (1,850 CTR recipients), 0.3 per cent in Orkney Islands (1,310 CTR recipients) and with the Shetland Islands accounting for 0.2 per cent, the least (1,090 CTR recipients). The order and proportion of these island authorities were the same in March 2023.
Figure 7: Glasgow City had the largest proportion of CTR recipients
CTR recipients by local authority as a proportion of the Scottish CTR Population, March 2024, Scotland
2.1 CTR recipients over time
From the introduction of the CTR scheme in April 2013 to March 2024, the number of households receiving CTR in Scotland has gradually decreased from 552,380 in April 2013 to 461,550 in March 2024. However there were large rises in caseload in 2020 due to the initial economic impact of Covid-19 (as shown in Figure 1). The number of CTR recipients is now 16 per cent (90,830 recipients) lower in March 2024 than when the scheme began.
All local authorities in Scotland have seen a decrease in the number of CTR recipients since the scheme was introduced in April 2013. Figure 8 shows the percentage change between April 2013 and March 2024 for all local authorities in Scotland.
Figure 8: Na h-Eileanan Siar saw the largest decrease in CTR recipients since the scheme was first introduced in April 2013
CTR recipients by local authority, percentage change between April 2013 and March 2024, Scotland
The largest percentage decreases in the number of CTR recipients were in Na h-Eileanan Siar (-36 per cent), West Dunbartonshire (-26 per cent) followed by City of Edinburgh (-24 per cent). Whilst Na h-Eileanan Siar has a large percentage decrease, this represents a relatively small number of CTR recipients.
2.2 CTR recipients by passported status
In March 2024, passported CTR recipients accounted for 39 per cent of all CTR recipients (details about passporting benefits can be found in the glossary). This is down from 42 per cent in March 2023, and part of a decreasing trend from 63 per cent in March 2018. As Univeral Credit is not a passporting benefit, as the Universal caseload continues to rise and replace passporting benefits the number of non-passported cases will increase. Some of the non-passported cases will however receive 100 per cent CTR due to low income.
As seen from Figure 9, the most common passporting benefits are Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit) and Employment and Support Allowance (Income related) which made up 36 per cent of all CTR recipients in March 2024, a slight decrease from March 2023. The Employment and Support Allowance caseload is the last to migrate to Universal credit, which is why the number of CTR recpients on this passported benefit is higher than those receiving Income Support and Jobseekers Allowance. This caseload is expected to decrease as this benefit can no longer be claimed by new applicants. There are no changes to Pension Credit and this continues to passport State Pension Age applicants on low income to full CTR.
The proportion of passported CTR recipients from Income Support and Jobseekers Allowance has continued to decrease and in March 2024 made up only 2.8 per cent of all CTR recipients.
Figure 9: The number of non-passported CTR recipients both in and out of employment has increased since the previous year
CTR recipients (000s) by passported status, comparison of March 2023 and March 2024, Scotland
With the continued roll out of Univeral Credit there has been a change in the balance of passported and non-passported CTR recipients, with non-passported CTR recipients continuing to account for more than passported CTR recipients. As can be seen in Figure 10, there has been a gradual decrease of passported CTR recipients (-5.6 per cent) and an increase in non-passported CTR recipients (+6.8 per cent) between March 2023 and March 2024. This is consistent with the trends for for non-passported CTR recipients between March 2022 and March 2023. In March 2024, passported and non-passported CTR recipients accounted for 39 per cent and 61 per cent of all CTR recipients respectively.
Figure 10: The total number of passported CTR recipients has decreased since the previous year
CTR recipients (000s) by passported status, March 2023 to March 2024, Scotland
As can be seen in Figure 11, the proportion of each passported benefit as a percentage of all CTR recipients between March 2023 and March 2024 has remained similar. For non-passported CTR recipients, there has been a slight increase in the proportion of those not employed as a percentage of all CTR recipients with those not in employment now accounting for the majority (51 per cent) of all CTR recipients in March 2024 (up from 48 per cent in March 2023). The proportion of non-passported CTR recipients in employment is the same as March 2023.
Figure 11: The proportion of CTR recipients that have passported status has decreased across all four categories
Proportion of passported status as a percentage of all CTR recipients, comparison of March 2023 and March 2024, Scotland
The number of CTR recipients by passported status and local authority in March 2024 is available in the supplementary tables. Some key variations across local authorities are:
- Na h-Eileanan Siar (54 per cent), Glasgow City (45 per cent) and West Dunbartonshire (44 per cent) had the highest proportion of passported CTR recipients. However, this represents a decrease in proportion for all three local authorities in comparison to March 2023 (55 per cent, 48 per cent and 48 per cent respectively).
- Clackmannanshire (32 per cent), East Lothian (33 per cent) and Aberdeenshire (33 per cent) had the lowest proportions of passported CTR recipients in March 2024 compared to 34 per cent, 34 per cent and 35 per cent respectively last year.
2.3 CTR recipients by age and family type
Figure 12 shows the number of CTR recipients by age group in March 2024. Between March 2023 and March 2024, the number of CTR recipients increased slightly for all younger age groups and those aged 55-64. The number of CTR recipients aged 50 to 54 and 65 and over decreased slightly, by -1.0 and -0.2 per cent respectively. Those aged 35 to 44 increased the most (5.7 per cent) between March 2023 and March 2024.
The age group with the highest proportion of CTR recipients continues to be those aged 65 and over, at 35 per cent (162,900 CTR recipients) in March 2024, which is a similiar proportion as seen in March 2023. The March 2024 proportions of CTR recipients for all other age groups were consistent to those in March 2023, with similar proportions also observed during the financial year. The age group with the lowest proportion were those aged under 25 at 2.7 per cent (12,260 CTR recipients). This can in part be explained by the fact there are generally less individuals aged under 25 years old with Council Tax liability and therefore applying for CTR.
Figure 12: The highest number of CTR recipients are those aged 65 and over
CTR recipients (000s) by age group, comparison of March 2023 and March 2024, Scotland
Figure 13 shows the number of CTR recipients by family type in March 2024. Between March 2023 and March 2024, CTR recipients increased for all family types, except for couples with no children. The number of lone parents receiving CTR rose to 78,410 (an increase of 4.4 per cent), with couples with no child dependants showing a decrease of 1.5 per cent, dropping to 45,130 CTR recipients.
In March 2024, over two thirds of CTR recipients (68 per cent) were single with no child dependent, the same as in March 2023. Lone parents made up 17 per cent and 15 per cent were couples (with or without children). These proportions remained unchanged from March 2023.
Figure 13: CTR recipients increased for all family types, except for couples with no children
CTR recipients (000s) by family type, comparison of March 2023 and March 2024, Scotland
2.4 CTR recipients by deprivation
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is the Scottish Government's official tool for identifying areas of multiple deprivation. It divides Scotland into 6,976 datazones, each containing around 350 households or approximately 700-800 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 contains the next ten per cent most deprived, and so on.
It should be noted that the overall SIMD score is a relative measure and assesses deprivation across seven domains – income, employment, education, health, access to services, crime and housing. The CTR scheme is principally concerned with income and household circumstances as a basis for making awards.
Between March 2023 and March 2024, CTR recipients increased in all deciles with the percentage increase greatest in decile 7 (see Supplementary Table 2.9). Percentage change may be greater at the lower deprivation levels as the numbers of CTR recipients are smaller resulting in larger percentage increases. Figure 14 shows the spread of CTR recipients across areas of deprivation, using SIMD deciles as described above, which shows that the proportions in each decile have remained similar to proportions in March 2023 despite the decreases observed at a decile level. It can be observed that CTR recipients continue to be heavily concentrated in areas of highest deprivation, with 57 per cent of CTR recipients (264,270) in the lowest three deciles in March 2024, a slight decrease from 58 per cent in March 2023.
Figure 14: The majority of CTR recipients were in the lowest three deprivation deciles
Proportion of CTR recipients by deprivation, comparison of March 2023 and March 2024, Scotland
Further details available at the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020 webpage.
2.5 Full and partial CTR
Full CTR refers to CTR recipients whose Council Tax liability is reduced to zero. Partial CTR refers to CTR recipients whose Council Tax liability is reduced, but they are still liable to pay some Council Tax. Further details on these terms and how CTR is calculated are given in Section 1.1.
Between March 2023 and March 2024, the number of CTR recipients decreased for those that received partial award status and increased for those that received full award status. Partial CTR decreased by 1.7 per cent and full CTR increased by 2.0 per cent. The number of CTR recipients by full or partial award and passported status from March 2023 to March 2024 is available in the supplementary tables.
Figure 15 compares the number of CTR recipients in March 2023 and March 2024 by full or partial award and passported status. It can be seen that the increase in CTR recipients is predominantly driven by the 9.2 per cent increase in non-passported and full CTR recipients. This is an increase of 17,830 recipients in comparison to March 2023. It should be noted that despite the overall increase in CTR recipients, there was a relatively large decrease in passported and full CTR recipients of 5.4 per cent, 187,830 falling to 177,600 recipients in March 2024.
Figure 15: The number of CTR recipients that are non-passported and full CTR increased since last year whilst the other categories have decreased
CTR recipients (000s) by full or partial award and passported status, comparison of March 2023 and March 2024, Scotland
The proportion of CTR recipients receiving full CTR who are in receipt of a passporting benefit [1] and have no non-dependants [2] living in their household was 39 per cent in March 2024 compared to 41 per cent in March 2023. During this time, the proportion of CTR recipients receiving full CTR from a non-passporting benefit increased by 2.9 per cent gradually from April 2023 to 46 per cent in March 2024. Figure 16 compares the proportion of CTR recipients by full or partial award between March 2024 and March 2023.
In March 2024, 61 per cent of CTR recipients were non-passported CTR recipients, a rise from 58 per cent in March 2023. Of this, 42 per cent of CTR recipients (210,660) were awarded full CTR and the remainder (69,770 CTR recipients) were awarded partial CTR.
Of all CTR recipients, more than four-fifths (84 per cent, 388,260 CTR recipients) were in receipt of full CTR in March 2024, which is unchanged from March 2023.
Figure 16: The proportion of CTR recipients who are non-passported and receive full CTR has increased since the previous year
Proportion of CTR recipients by full or partial award and passported status, comparison of March 2023 and March 2024, Scotland
Contact
Email: lgfstats@gov.scot
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