Key facts and figures

What is the Council's total budget?

The Council’s total revenue budget is £939m for 2013/14. The revenue budget covers the cost of running Council services, and includes money from fees and charges for services.

Where does this money come from?

• 48% from the Scottish Government
• 30% from non-domestic rates from Edinburgh businesses (also known as business rates)
• 22% from Council Tax.

What is this money spent on?

The Council's net spending for 2013/14 is as follows:

Proportion of Council Spending	Percentage spend
Children and Families	46%
Health and Social Care	22%
Economic Development (including parking, roads and transport services)	2%
Corporate Governance (Council business and includes Culture and Sport services)	4%
Services for Communities (Council housing and tenants, homelessness and support in the home)	20%
Other services	4%
Adjustment for Capital Charges	2%

This excludes spending on Council housing, which is wholly funded from rents.

Is the Council committed to making savings?

To fund growing demands on Council services and provide additional spend on our buildings, the approved budget for 2013/14 needed to deliver a further £14 million of savings. The total savings the Council needs to make are around £100 million over the next five years.

How much is Council Tax?

The Band D level for 2013/14 is £1169. This has stayed the same for six years and is the lowest Band D level for any major Scottish city. Find out more about Council Tax and Banding and Charges.

How many staff does the Council have?

The Council employs around 15,051 staff. This is the figure for full-time equivalents and was correct as of February 2012. Find out more about Council staffing.

Who runs the Council?

The Council currently has a Labour and SNP coalition. In August 2012, the Council agreed the Capital Coalition Pledges, a list of commitments that the Council will deliver over the course of its 2012-2017 term. Find out more about councillors and democracy, how decisions are taken and Council departments.

How many people live in Edinburgh?

The 2010 population for Edinburgh was 486,120; an increase of 1.8% from 477,660 in 2009 (General Register Office for Scotland , 2010). You can see many more figures about Edinburgh population, business, attractions and education in our Edinburgh by Numbers publication. 

How can I find out more about Edinburgh?

See our pages on visiting, living, investing or studying in Edinburgh .

You might also be interested in our pages on Edinburgh's famous sons and daughters, and our timeline of major events in the city's history.

Please note that some figures in these pages have been rounded or are approximate. Some detail has also been left out to help make the pages clearer.