Posted 07.03.16
From April 2017, the rates paid by those in the four highest council tax bands (E, F, G and H) in Scotland will be adjusted in a move that will generate £100 million a year. The additional revenue will be invested in schools through future local government settlements.
Under the proposals, which build on the recommendations of the Commission on Local Tax Reform, the average band E household will pay around £2 per week more and the average household in the highest band will pay around £10 a week more.
The 75% of Scottish households that live in bands A to D will be unaffected by this change to the council tax band system and a further 54,000 households living in bands E to H on low incomes - more than one third of which are pensioner households - will be entitled to an exemption from the changes through the council tax reduction scheme.
The reforms will also provide additional support to families on low incomes across all council tax bands by extending the relief available to households with children. This will benefit 77,000 low income families by an average of £173 per year, supporting an estimated 140,000 children.
Council tax bills have been frozen in Scotland since 2007 and the changes announced will ensure that bills in every band will be lower than they would have been had the freeze not been in place. Across Scotland, average rates in all bands will remain lower than the average in England.
The council freeze will continue until April 2017. From April 2017, the freeze will be replaced with discretion for local authorities to increase council tax by a maximum of 3% per year. This could generate up to £70 million for council services across the country.
