The Funding of Local Government in Scotland, 2023-2024

Introduction

There are 32 Local Authority councils in Scotland. Each council is responsible for a range of services, such as schools, housing, social work, street lighting, road maintenance, refuse collection, elections, and planning. Councils in Scotland spent about £23 billion in 2021-22. This was mainly funded from four sources: Scottish Government grant, service income, Non-domestic Rates, and Council Tax.

The Scottish Government seeks to distribute its funding fairly between councils. It does this by agreeing the method of distribution with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and councils. This publication describes the calculations used for 2023-24.