Question reference: S5W-35434
- Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 22 February 2021
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Current status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 26 February 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average band D council tax bill is, and what information it has regarding how this compares with (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answer
For the current financial year, 2020-21, the average Band D council tax charge in Scotland is £1,308 - significantly less than the average band D charges in England and Wales for the same period which are £1,818 and £1,667 respectively.
Our draft budget set out that £90 million is being made available to support local authorities in 2021-22, giving them the opportunity to freeze council tax at 2020-21 levels and protect Scottish households from council tax increases equivalent to around 3%.
As Councils are not required to set the council tax rate that will apply in their local authority area in 2021-22 until 11 March, figures for the average Band D charge will be published in early April, with the equivalent charges for England and Wales also expected to be available around that time.