Council tax reduction in Scotland: October to December 2018

Quarterly statistics on Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme, which reduces council tax liability of lower income households in Scotland.

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Council Tax Reduction in Scotland, October to December 2018

This publication provides statistics on the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme, which reduces the Council Tax (CT) liability of lower 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 2018.

Key Points

  • There were 473,410 CTR recipients in December 2018.
  • The total weekly income foregone by local authorities on CTR in December 2018 was £6.4 million.
  • There were 78,970 fewer CTR recipients in December 2018 than at the beginning of the scheme in April 2013. This is a decline of 14.3 per cent. The fall in recipients is gradual, but CT and CTR reforms and increases in CT in April 2017 and further increases in April 2018 resulted in increases in the total weekly CTR awarded.

Chart 1: CTR Recipients and Income Foregone, April 2013 to December 2018

Chart 1: CTR Recipients and Income Foregone, April 2013 to December 2018

The number of CTR recipients for each local authority in October to December 2018 is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: CTR Recipients by Local Authority, October to December 2018 1, 2

Oct-18 Nov-18 Dec-18
Scotland 469,930 477,580 473,410
Aberdeen City 13,740 13,930 13,800
Aberdeenshire 11,020 11,470 11,530
Angus 8,620 8,740 8,600
Argyll and Bute 6,610 6,700 6,590
Clackmannanshire 4,940 5,050 5,070
Dumfries and Galloway 12,970 13,280 13,130
Dundee City 17,320 17,670 17,380
East Ayrshire 12,830 13,010 13,040
East Dunbartonshire 5,140 5,140 5,400
East Lothian 6,800 6,850 6,860
East Renfrewshire 4,350 4,400 4,310
Edinburgh, City of 32,700 33,440 33,220
Eilean Siar 2,160 2,170 2,160
Falkirk 12,900 13,010 12,800
Fife 31,130 31,460 30,850
Glasgow City 87,320 88,410 87,930
Highland 16,850 17,070 16,990
Inverclyde 9,530 9,690 9,680
Midlothian 6,370 6,450 6,320
Moray 5,570 5,620 5,580
North Ayrshire 16,580 16,870 16,600
North Lanarkshire 35,660 36,480 36,090
Orkney Islands 1,130 1,170 1,170
Perth and Kinross 8,420 8,650 8,580
Renfrewshire 17,760 18,080 17,940
Scottish Borders 8,100 8,150 8,210
Shetland Islands 1,020 1,030 1,040
South Ayrshire 10,730 10,930 10,720
South Lanarkshire 29,770 30,220 29,690
Stirling 5,450 5,500 5,450
West Dunbartonshire 11,890 12,140 12,010
West Lothian 14,570 14,800 14,700

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.

Chart 1 on Page 1, shows fluctuation in CTR caseload between September and December 2018. The months of September to December saw the roll out of Universal Credit (UC) to several large local authorities including Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. People in those areas (with some exceptions) were no longer being able to make new claims for the legacy benefits, such as Income Support, Employment Support Allowance, and Job Seekers Allowance. Legacy benefits were replaced by UC. CTR recipients on UC no longer "automatically" qualify for full CTR but have to claim for CTR instead.

It is likely that the roll out of UC caused this fluctuation in the number of CTR cases. Supporting this view is the data in Table 2 below, which shows the CTR recipients also in receipt of UC between September and December 2018.

Table 2: CTR Caseload in Receipt of UC - September to December 2018

Month September October November December
Caseload 43,880 43,230 48,730 54,020

Chart 2 shows the number of CTR recipients by local authority for December 2018 in descending order, with the cumulative total of recipients represented by the line. It can be seen that 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 2018. The five local authorities are

  • Glasgow City with over 19 per cent (87,930 recipients) of the total;
  • North Lanarkshire, accounting for 8 per cent (36,090 recipients);
  • Edinburgh City with 7 per cent (33,220 recipients);
  • Fife with 7 per cent (30,850 recipients); and
  • South Lanarkshire, with 6 per cent (29,690 recipients).

Chart 2: CTR Recipients by Local Authority, December 2018.

Chart 2: CTR Recipients by Local Authority, December 2018

The total weekly income foregone for each local authority in October, November and December 2018 is shown in Table 3. The total for Scotland was £6,391.2 million in December 2018. The income foregone also shows a fluctuation in October with a figure of £6,367.9 thousand compared to £6,510.7 thousand reported in September.

Table 3: Weekly Income Foregone by Local Authority, October to December 2018.1,2,3

Oct-18 Nov-18 Dec-18
Scotland 6,367.9 6,452.4 6,391.2
Aberdeen City 189.9 192.3 190.2
Aberdeenshire 149.9 155.2 155.7
Angus 103.4 104.5 102.8
Argyll and Bute 100.4 101.2 99.4
Clackmannanshire 64.5 65.5 65.5
Dumfries and Galloway 164.3 167.4 165.0
Dundee City 228.5 232.1 228.0
East Ayrshire 168.6 170.2 170.6
East Dunbartonshire 82.7 82.7 85.7
East Lothian 94.7 95.3 95.5
East Renfrewshire 69.2 70.1 68.7
Edinburgh, City of 473.3 483.4 480.2
Eilean Siar 25.7 25.8 25.6
Falkirk 154.2 154.6 152.1
Fife 395.9 398.9 391.6
Glasgow City 1,298.6 1,312.0 1,302.6
Highland 231.1 234.2 233.3
Inverclyde 122.2 124.1 123.9
Midlothian 95.1 95.8 94.2
Moray 71.6 72.1 71.6
North Ayrshire 218.0 221.1 217.5
North Lanarkshire 433.0 441.0 435.9
Orkney Islands 13.9 14.4 14.3
Perth and Kinross 118.5 121.1 119.9
Renfrewshire 239.1 242.9 240.6
Scottish Borders 99.8 100.3 100.6
Shetland Islands 12.6 12.7 12.7
South Ayrshire 154.9 157.3 154.0
South Lanarkshire 370.2 374.2 367.7
Stirling 77.3 77.7 77.1
West Dunbartonshire 164.4 167.5 165.9
West Lothian 182.5 184.9 183.0

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: Claire McHarrie

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