Are we getting good return on Council Tax in Caithness? Road maintenance highlighted as a major issue

A survey highlighting areas of the UK that benefit most from council tax shows that residents in Highland rank near the bottom with road maintenance a serious issue.

As the cost of living spirals, the council tax rebate scheme was introduced to lift some burden off residents shoulders. However, with it still a significant cost, a price comparison website looked at where in the UK residents get the most in return for their council tax.

Experts at money.co.uk analysed a variety of council services across Scotland, including fire service response time, recycling levels, road conditions, crime rate, percentage of good or outstanding schools and care homes, to reveal in which district council tax goes the furthest.

Scottish districts getting the worst return on council tax:

Highland ranks eighth worst Scottish district where residents suffer from poor council services.

Receiving a final value score of 2.66/10, roads in Highland are poorly maintained (1.29/10), with almost 9 per cent of roads requiring repair. Waste management also needs improvement as recycling scores a mere 2.90/10.

Other stats reveal that the highest crime rate across Scotland is in Renfrewshire.

Money.co.uk (www.money.co.uk/savings-accounts) can reveal that Clackmannanshire is Scotland’s worst performing council, receiving a final score of 1.81/10. Despite moderate road conditions (4.19/10), recycling is below par with a score of 0.32/10, and crime levels are 70.2 per cent higher than in the Orkney Islands.

Stirling follows closely behind with a final score of 1.84/10. Although crime levels are 17.2 per cent lower than in Clackmannanshire, only 0.80 per cent of household waste is recycled and almost 10 per cent of roads require repair (0.65/10).

With a final score of 1.96/10, Renfrewshire comes in as third worst for its residents - contributing to this is a 0/10 recycling score and mediocre road conditions (4.84/10). Alongside these, 443 crimes were reported per 10,000 people.

Council tax goes the furthest in the Orkney Islands. With a final score of 7.65/10, not only are recycling levels high (7.74/10), road maintenance services (10/10) are the best in Scotland. Crime levels are 83.4 per cent lower than in Dundee, where the number of crimes is the highest.

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