Council Tax Reduction in Scotland, April to June 2016

Council Tax Reduction in Scotland, April to June 2016

This publication provides statistics on the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme, which reduces the Council Tax liability of low income households in Scotland. A CTR 'recipient' can be a single person or a couple, with or without children, since Council Tax is charged on a per-dwelling basis, rather than to individuals.

The statistics are based on data extracts from local authorities, and cover the time period April to June 2016.

Key Points

• There were 498,750 Council Tax Reduction recipients in Scotland in June 2016.

• The total weekly income foregone by local authorities on Council Tax Reduction in June 2016 was £6.3 million.

• The total number of Council Tax Reduction recipients in Scotland has gradually decreased by 9.7 per cent (53,630 recipients) between the beginning of the scheme in Scotland in April 2013, and June 2016.

Chart 1: CTR recipients in Scotland, April 2013 to June 2016

The number of recipients for each local authority in April, May and June 2016 is shown in Table 1. The total number of recipients in Scotland decreased from 504,980 in March 2016 to 498,750 in June 2016. This is similar to the pattern seen in the same months in previous years.

Table 1: CTR Recipients by Local Authority, April to June 2016 ^{1, 2}

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.

Figure 1 shows CTR recipients by local authority for June 2016 in a treemap, using the data from Table 1. This allows a visual comparison of the number of recipients in each local authority. The five local authorities with the highest numbers of CTR recipients accounted for almost half (46 per cent) of the total for Scotland in June 2016. Glasgow City accounted for the highest proportion of Scotland's CTR recipients, with 19 per cent (92,330) of the total. The other four authorities with the highest proportion of CTR recipients were North Lanarkshire, accounting for 8 per cent (37,910 recipients); Edinburgh City, accounting for 7 per cent (35,930 recipients); and Fife and South Lanarkshire, accounting for 6 per cent each (32,150 and 31,490 recipients respectively).

Figure 1: Treemap of CTR recipients by Local Authority, June 2016

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

The total weekly income foregone for each local authority in April, May and June 2016 is shown in Table 2. The total for Scotland decreased to £6.3 million in June, reflecting the decrease in the number of recipients.

Table 2: CTR weekly estimate of income foregone (£000's) by Local Authority, April to June 2016 ^{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.