Council Tax freezes agreed by all Scottish local authorities

As part of the 2021-22 Scottish Budget, finance secretary Kate Forbes allocated £90 million – the equivalent of around a 3% council tax increase – on top of the local government settlement to compensate councils who choose to freeze their council tax.

The move was part of the £11.6 billion of funding from the Scottish Government that will be distributed to individual local authorities in 2021-22.

Glasgow and Stirling were the last authorities to consider council tax levels when they set their 2021/22 budgets yesterday. Other councils had been through that process since last month, with all agreeing to a freeze.

Local authorities are to receive a cash equivalent of a 3% council tax increase in return for not putting up levels.

Ms 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.”