Council Tax Reduction in Scotland, October to December 2015

Number of recipients and weekly income foregone by local authorities for the Council Tax Reduction scheme in Scotland for October to December 2015.


Council Tax Reduction in Scotland, October to December 2015

This publication provides statistics on the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme, which reduces the Council Tax liability of vulnerable people 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 October to December 2015.

 

Key Points

  • There were 505,270 Council Tax Reduction recipients in Scotland in December 2015.

 

  • The total weekly income foregone by local authorities on Council Tax Reduction in December 2015 was £6.4 million.

 

  • The total number of Council Tax Reduction recipients in Scotland has gradually decreased by 8.5 per cent (47,110 recipients) between the beginning of the scheme in Scotland in April 2013, and December 2015.

 

Chart 1: CTR recipients in Scotland, April 2013 to December 2015

Chart 1: CTR recipients in Scotland, April 2013 to December 2015

 

The number of recipients for each local authority in October, November and December 2015 is shown in Table 1. The total number of recipients in Scotland decreased from 512,340 in September 2015 to 505,270 in December 2015. This is similar to the pattern seen in the same months in previous years.

Table 1: CTR Recipients by Local Authority, October to December 2015 1, 2

  Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15
SCOTLAND 509,140 506,640 505,270
Aberdeen City 13,450 13,520 13,580
Aberdeenshire 11,350 11,410 11,480
Angus 8,950 8,890 8,910
Argyll and Bute 7,240 7,220 7,180
Clackmannanshire 5,490 5,510 5,460
Dumfries and Galloway 13,650 13,620 13,570
Dundee City 18,580 18,460 18,430
East Ayrshire 14,480 14,410 14,370
East Dunbartonshire 5,810 5,740 5,740
East Lothian 7,610 7,590 7,580
East Renfrewshire 4,840 4,800 4,780
Edinburgh, City of 36,610 36,470 36,470
Eilean Siar 2,460 2,470 2,450
Falkirk 14,290 14,230 14,210
Fife 32,650 32,420 32,250
Glasgow City 94,690 94,120 93,520
Highland 17,550 17,510 17,580
Inverclyde 10,200 10,140 10,100
Midlothian 7,010 6,980 6,960
Moray 5,940 5,900 5,900
North Ayrshire 18,150 18,000 17,860
North Lanarkshire 39,120 38,930 38,820
Orkney Islands 1,240 1,230 1,270
Perth and Kinross 9,400 9,370 9,380
Renfrewshire 19,300 19,140 19,120
Scottish Borders 9,010 9,050 8,980
Shetland Islands 1,040 1,040 1,050
South Ayrshire 11,810 11,750 11,670
South Lanarkshire 32,370 32,110 32,040
Stirling 6,050 6,010 6,010
West Dunbartonshire 13,070 12,960 12,930
West Lothian 15,720 15,650 15,630

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 December 2015 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 December 2015. Glasgow City accounted for the highest proportion of Scotland's CTR recipients, with 19 per cent (93,520) of the total. The other four authorities with the highest proportion of CTR recipients were North Lanarkshire, accounting for 8 per cent (38,820 recipients); Edinburgh City, accounting for 7 per cent (36,470 recipients); and Fife and South Lanarkshire, accounting for 6 per cent each (32,250 and 32,040 recipients respectively).

Figure 1: Treemap of CTR recipients by Local Authority, December 2015

Figure 1: Treemap of CTR recipients by Local Authority, December 2015

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 October, November and December 2015 is shown in Table 2. The total for Scotland decreased slightly to £6.4 million in December, reflecting the decrease in the number of recipients.

Table 2: CTR weekly estimate of income foregone (£000's) by Local Authority, October to December 2015 1, 2, 3

  Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15
SCOTLAND 6,460.1 6,425.5 6,405.7
Aberdeen City 176.1 176.8 177.5
Aberdeenshire 139.3 139.8 140.5
Angus 99.8 99.1 99.6
Argyll and Bute 102.3 102.1 101.4
Clackmannanshire 66.6 66.8 66.1
Dumfries and Galloway 161.3 161.1 160.5
Dundee City 231.2 229.3 228.8
East Ayrshire 176.4 175.5 175.4
East Dunbartonshire 85.7 84.4 84.4
East Lothian 99.6 99.2 99.1
East Renfrewshire 69.9 69.4 69.1
Edinburgh, City of 491.3 489.1 488.3
Eilean Siar 27.3 27.4 27.2
Falkirk 157.1 156.3 156.0
Fife 386.3 383.6 380.9
Glasgow City 1,304.0 1,295.9 1,286.8
Highland 227.7 227.1 228.1
Inverclyde 125.8 125.0 124.2
Midlothian 96.8 96.4 96.1
Moray 70.5 70.1 70.0
North Ayrshire 222.6 221.0 219.3
North Lanarkshire 454.5 452.0 450.7
Orkney Islands 14.1 14.0 14.4
Perth and Kinross 123.8 123.2 123.5
Renfrewshire 246.2 244.3 243.8
Scottish Borders 102.7 103.0 102.4
Shetland Islands 11.8 11.8 11.9
South Ayrshire 159.2 158.1 157.1
South Lanarkshire 388.1 385.0 384.0
Stirling 81.4 81.1 81.0
West Dunbartonshire 174.3 172.4 172.1
West Lothian 186.5 185.3 185.3

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.

Contact

Email: Louise Cuthbertson

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