Council Tax Reduction (CTR) statistics: FOI release

Information requested

1. CTR Statistics – Aberdeen City Council:

• Total number of households receiving Council Tax Reduction (CTR);
• Total value of CTR granted;
• Proportion of CTR value in relation to the total gross Council Tax billed.

2. CTR Funding:

• Total compensation received by Aberdeen City Council from the Scottish Government to fund CTR;
• Proportion of this compensation within the council’s total general funding received from the Scottish Government.

3. Scotland-Wide CTR Statistics:

• Total number of households receiving CTR across Scotland;
• Total value of CTR granted across Scotland;
• Proportion of CTR in relation to gross Council Tax billed nationwide.

Preferred Format:

Please provide the requested data in Excel or CSV format where possible.

Please provide the information for the following financial years:

• 2022–2023
• 2023–2024
• 2024–2025 (based on latest available data)

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in the format you asked for – please see the attached document, FOI-202500464261_CTR_statistics.xlsx. The first sheet, titled “CTR_Statistics”, answers your first and third queries on Council Tax Reduction (CTR) Statistics for Aberdeen City Council and Scotland as a whole. The second sheet, titled “CTR_Funding”, answers you second query on CTR funding.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested – specifically the figures in the “CTR_Statistics” sheet for total Council Tax billed in the tax year 2024-25 – because this data is produced in arrears and is not yet available.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on Council Tax Reduction (CTR), on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities. Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

Most of the information you have requested is publicly available from the following webpages, which also contain additional data and information that you may find useful:
1. Local government finance statistics - gov.scot

2. Council Tax Reduction: local authority tables and charts - April 2013 to March 2025 - gov.scot

• Council Tax Reduction_April 2013 to March 2025

3. Supporting documents - Scottish local government finance - Green Book: 2023-2024 - gov.scot

• GAE 2023-24 Green Book: tables

4. Local government finance circulars - gov.scot

•  2024-25 - Local government finance circular No. 2/2024: settlement for 2024-2025 - gov.scot (Annex B)
•  2023-24 - Local government finance circular 3/2023: settlement for 2023-24 - gov.scot (Annex B)
•  2023-23 - Local government finance circular 1/2022: settlement for 2022-23 - gov.scot (Annex B)

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500464261 - Information Released - Document

File type

Excel document

File size

20.5 kB