A fall in the number of people receiving help towards paying their council tax is "encouraging", Finance Secretary John Swinney has said.

With record numbers of people now in employment, Scottish Government figures showed that between April last year and June this year 14,650 fewer households were in receipt of support.

In June this year 537,730 were helped with funds from the council tax reduction scheme in Scotland, which replaced the previous UK-wide council tax benefit system.

Households are assessed to see if they are eligible for help under the scheme based on factors such as income levels, savings and benefits.

Mr Swinney said: "This Scottish Government has consistently taken action to protect households across Scotland from Westminster's welfare cuts.

"We are helping over 500,000 low-income households who would otherwise have seen bills rise and living costs increase.

"It's clear we are working hard to help those people in Scotland who are paying a heavy price for the UK Government's welfare reforms.

"Today's figures demonstrate our commitment to helping pensioners, families, lone parents and disabled people who are struggling to pay their bills.

"It's also encouraging to see the levels of people who require this support falling at the same time as more people are able to enter the labour market and improve their household incomes.

"We are outperforming the UK as a whole on the three headline labour market indicators but our ambition is to ensure that everyone is able to benefit from a growing economy."