Council Tax Reduction in Scotland, October to December 2016

Statistics on the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme, which reduces the Council Tax liability of low income households.

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Council Tax Reduction in Scotland, October to December 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 October to December 2016.

Key Points

  • There were 490,410 Council Tax Reduction recipients in Scotland in December 2016.
  • The total weekly income foregone by local authorities on Council Tax Reduction in December 2016 was £6.2 million.
  • The total number of Council Tax Reduction recipients in Scotland has gradually decreased by 11.2 per cent (61,970 recipients) between the beginning of the scheme in Scotland in April 2013, and December 2016.

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

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

The number of recipients for each local authority in October, November and December 2016 is shown in Table 1. The total number of recipients in Scotland decreased from 493,470 in October 2016 to 490,410 in December 2016. The changes in number of recipients between months are similar in pattern to those seen in the same months in previous years.

Table 1: CTR Recipients by Local Authority, October to December 2016 1, 2

  Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16
SCOTLAND 493,470 490,800 490,410
Aberdeen City 14,030 13,930 13,920
Aberdeenshire 11,640 11,560 11,580
Angus 8,760 8,750 8,720
Argyll and Bute 6,980 6,970 6,980
Clackmannanshire 5,290 5,250 5,260
Dumfries and Galloway 13,270 13,200 13,260
Dundee City 18,360 18,310 18,310
East Ayrshire 13,750 13,670 13,980
East Dunbartonshire 5,570 5,540 5,470
East Lothian 7,000 7,020 7,010
East Renfrewshire 4,650 4,630 4,630
Edinburgh, City of 35,440 35,100 35,020
Eilean Siar 2,380 2,390 2,390
Falkirk 13,730 13,580 13,550
Fife 31,540 31,410 31,400
Glasgow City 91,770 91,230 90,890
Highland 17,120 17,110 17,300
Inverclyde 9,770 9,680 9,770
Midlothian 6,740 6,710 6,680
Moray 5,840 5,810 5,840
North Ayrshire 17,370 17,260 17,150
North Lanarkshire 37,380 37,140 37,030
Orkney Islands 1,210 1,220 1,230
Perth and Kinross 9,130 9,130 9,100
Renfrewshire 18,660 18,550 18,500
Scottish Borders 8,680 8,680 8,730
Shetland Islands 1,050 1,070 1,050
South Ayrshire 11,350 11,310 11,320
South Lanarkshire 31,000 30,900 30,780
Stirling 5,750 5,700 5,720
West Dunbartonshire 12,830 12,770 12,720
West Lothian 15,390 15,220 15,110

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 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 December 2016. Glasgow City accounted for the highest proportion of Scotland's CTR recipients, with 19 per cent (90,890) of the total. The other four authorities with the highest proportion of CTR recipients were North Lanarkshire, accounting for 8 per cent (37,030 recipients); Edinburgh City, accounting for 7 per cent (35,020 recipients); and Fife and South Lanarkshire, accounting for 6 per cent each (31,400 and 30,780 recipients respectively).

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

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

The total weekly income foregone for each local authority in October, November and December 2016 is shown in Table 2. The total for Scotland was £6.2 million in December; the slight decrease in income foregone reflects the decrease in the number of recipients.

Table 2: CTR weekly estimate of income foregone (£000's) by Local Authority, October to December 2016 1, 2, 3

  Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16
SCOTLAND 6,284.9 6,248.2 6,237.8
Aberdeen City 185.2 183.7 183.5
Aberdeenshire 145.1 144.5 144.8
Angus 98.5 98.5 98.2
Argyll and Bute 98.8 98.7 98.8
Clackmannanshire 64.6 64.0 64.0
Dumfries and Galloway 157.6 156.6 157.0
Dundee City 228.8 228.0 227.3
East Ayrshire 169.4 168.1 171.5
East Dunbartonshire 81.9 81.7 80.6
East Lothian 91.7 91.9 91.9
East Renfrewshire 67.4 66.9 66.9
Edinburgh, City of 471.5 466.9 464.7
Eilean Siar 26.5 26.5 26.5
Falkirk 152.0 150.5 150.2
Fife 375.9 374.0 373.8
Glasgow City 1,266.2 1,257.4 1,252.6
Highland 222.4 222.4 224.1
Inverclyde 121.4 120.1 121.0
Midlothian 93.6 93.3 92.9
Moray 70.1 69.7 70.0
North Ayrshire 213.8 212.6 211.2
North Lanarkshire 437.1 434.5 432.9
Orkney Islands 14.1 14.2 14.3
Perth and Kinross 121.4 121.2 120.6
Renfrewshire 239.6 237.6 236.8
Scottish Borders 99.1 98.9 99.6
Shetland Islands 12.2 12.3 12.1
South Ayrshire 152.6 152.0 152.2
South Lanarkshire 373.5 372.2 370.4
Stirling 77.9 77.1 77.3
West Dunbartonshire 171.0 170.1 169.4
West Lothian 184.0 182.2 180.8

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: Robin Bennie

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