Council tax frozen across Scotland for next year

The 32 local authorities were offered a cash incentive from the Scottish Government.

Council tax frozen across Scotland for next year Getty Images

Council tax rates across Scotland have been frozen at last year’s levels.

The 32 local authorities were offered a cash incentive from the Scottish Government in return for not raising the cost of the bills.

Stirling Council and Glasgow City Council were the last to confirm the move as they set out their 2021/22 budgets on Thursday.

All 32 local authorities will receive a cash equivalent to a 3% council tax increase.

The move forms part of the Scottish Government’s spending plans for the coming year.

Finance secretary Kate Forbes announced the £90m – on top of an overall funding package of £11.6bn for 2021/22 – in her Scottish budget statement in January.

She said it was in “recognition of the increasing pressures on many family budgets” and would strike a balance between raising revenue to pay for public services and helping Scotland recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the council tax freeze across Scotland, Forbes said: “With people facing unprecedented challenges and extra pressures, now is a time to work together to provide stability and certainty.

“In the budget for the year ahead I took the significant step of providing £90m to support a national council tax freeze, giving local authorities the option to support families while ensuring there would be no impact on vital local services.

“I am pleased that councils have taken advantage of this additional support and have protected household finances. This will make a real difference to people across Scotland.

“I have also confirmed that the funding provided this year to support the council tax freeze will be maintained in local authority budgets going forward, providing additional certainty to local government.”

Councillor Margaret Brisley, convener of Stirling Council’s finance and economy committee, added: “The past year has been like nothing we’ve ever seen before and families all across the Stirling Council area have been hit hard financially.

“We have been able to make this decision thanks to extra grant funding coming from the Scottish Government which, after almost a year of Covid-19, we hope will bring some relief to those who are struggling to make ends meet.”

Council tax rates, Band D charge

  • Aberdeen City – £1377.30 
  • Aberdeenshire – £1300.81
  • Angus – £1206.54
  • Argyll and Bute – £1367.73
  • Clackmannanshire – £1304.63
  • Dumfries and Galloway – £1222.63
  • Dundee – £1379
  • East Ayrshire – £1375.35
  • East Dunbartonshire – £1308.98
  • East Lothian – £1302.62
  • East Renfrewshire – £1289.96
  • Edinburgh – £1338.59
  • Falkirk – £1225.58
  • Fife – £1280.80
  • Glasgow – £1386
  • Highland – £1332.33
  • Inverclyde – £1331.84
  • Midlothian – £1409
  • Moray – £1322.87
  • North Ayrshire – £1342.69
  • North Lanarkshire – £1221.25
  • Orkney Islands – £1208.48
  • Perth and Kinross – £1318
  • Renfrewshire – £1315.42
  • Scottish Borders – £1253.91
  • Shetland Islands – £1206.33
  • South Ayrshire – £1344.96
  • South Lanarkshire – £1203
  • Stirling – £1344.29
  • West Dunbartonshire – £1293.55
  • Western Isles – £1193.49
  • West Lothian – £1276.42
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