East Ayrshire has been included in a league table which charts where residents are getting the worst return on their council tax.
The region was placed joint sixth, along with Highland Council, in the table compiled by UK-based price comparison website money.co.uk
Finishing in top position as the Scottish local authority offering the worst return on council tax was Dumfries and Galloway, closely followed by City of Edinburgh.
Financial experts at money.co.uk analysed a variety of council services across Scotland, including recycling levels, road conditions and crime rates when making up the table.
East Ayrshire limped home with a final value score of 2.50 out of 10.
According to the statistics, 8.06 per cent of East Ayrshire roads required repairs; just 41.10 per cent of household waste was recycled and the total number of crimes per 10,000 people (2020/21) stood at 433.
South Ayrshire’s final value score was graded at 3.60 out of 10.
Their stats showed that 8.96 per cent of the roads required repairs; 55.30 per cent of household waste was recycled and the total number of crimes per 10,000 people (2020/21) was 387.
For North Ayrshire, the finance experts graded the area’s final value score as 3.28 out of 10.
In North Ayrshire, just 6.97 per cent of the roads required repairs; 52.10 per cent of household waste was recycled and the total number of crimes (2020/21) per 10,000 people stood at 475.
Despite scoring better than East Ayrshire, neither South Ayrshire or North Ayrshire made the top 10 of Scottish local authorities with the best return on council tax.
South Ayrshire was 17th in the table with North Ayrshire 21st. Those said to be offering the best return was Angus Council followed by Moray Council.
James Andrews, senior editor (personal finance) at money.co.uk said: “The cost of council tax varies considerably from location to location, on top of the eight different bands used to separate costs inside each local authority.
“But does a lower bill always mean you’re getting good value for money?
“With varying public service standards across the UK, the return you get on your council tax fees can fluctuate wildly depending on the area you live in.”
A statement from East Ayrshire Council read: “We note the analysis that is detailed, however, the extremely limited number of indicators that are used to derive the results is so small that it calls into question the effectiveness of the analysis.
“There are significantly more indicators that could have been used but perhaps most concerning is that the analysis fails to take account of deprivation levels within individual councils.”
If you want to find out more, go to https://www.money.co.uk/savings-accounts/best-return-council-tax-returns
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