Council Tax Reduction Supports Over 450,000 Households

29th June 2023

Scotland's Chief Statistician today released the latest annual Council Tax Reduction statistics.

In March 2023, Scotland’s Council Tax Reduction scheme supported 454,350 households (compared to 462,670 in March 2022) and the total weekly income forgone by local authorities was £7.364 million (compared to £6.829 million in March 2022).

The total number of CTR recipients in Scotland decreased over the course of 2022-23 with the largest change, a decrease of 1.2 per cent, observed in October 2022 compared to the previous month.

The number of CTR recipients in Scotland remained relatively steady between March 2022 and September 2022 then started to decrease, reaching a record low of 454,180 in December 2022. From January 2023 to March 2023, the number of recipients rose and fell again, remaining just above the record low.

The total number of Council Tax Reduction recipients in Scotland is now 18 per cent (98,030 recipients) lower in March 2023 than it was when the scheme began (April 2013).

Though there was a decrease in the number of CTR recipients, there was an increase in income forgone from March 2022 to March 2023. This is due to the increase in Council Tax rates and therefore the average weekly award for CTR recipients.