Council taxes will rise by an average of 4.5%

He said it could be attributed to the "financial prudence" shown by councils.

Councillor Watters said: "It has not been easy and councils have had to make some tough choices and difficult decisions in setting their budgets.

"However, thanks to good planning and financial prudence, Scotland's councils have managed to keep council tax rises to a minimum."

He added: "Demand for services always exceed the funding which we receive and we need to balance what can be provided with what can be afforded."

But the Scottish Conservatives have attacked the news, demanding to know why the public was being asked to pay more and get less in return.

Keith Harding: "People are paying more and getting less"

The party's local government spokesman, Keith Harding, said: "Instead of looking to increase taxes yet again, councils should be concentrating their efforts on eliminating waste and inefficiency, beginning with the �145m in council tax they failed to collect last year."

The Scottish National Party was also critical, claiming the government's attitude to council finance was reckless and the root cause of the increases.

SNP MSP Tricia Marwick: "Since Labour came to power, they have increased the amount collected through council tax by over �500m - that's the equivalent of putting two pence on income tax."

She accused Labour of asking councils to do its dirty work as it tried to hide tax rises.

Ms Marwick added: "The executive are grossly irresponsible with finance. Their policies have increased the workload of local councils considerably, yet they aren't prepared to hand over the money to pay for the work done."

Andy Kerr praised councils for the level of the rises

But finance minister Andy Kerr said the new figures showed Scottish local authorities were sticking closely to the provisional council tax figures for 2002/03.

He also hailed the overall rise as being less this year than last year - he also said he believed it would be lower still in 2003/04.

Mr Kerr added: "The executive is committing unprecedented levels of additional central funding towards improving local services.

"I am pleased that most councils have stuck closely to the indicative figures published last year. In fact, in a number of cases, councils have set increases below their indicative levels."

The figures below are those available so far for Band D Council Tax levels for the next financial year.

The first figure is for 2001/02, the second for 2002/03 and the third figure, in bold, the percentage increase.

• Aberdeen: 934; 980.82; 5

• Aberdeenshire: 855; 919; 7.5

• Angus: 821; 881; 7.3

• Argyll and Bute: 984; 1009; 2.5

• Dumfries and Galloway: 857; 899; 4.9

• Dundee: 1046; 1079; 3.2

• East Ayrshire: 922; 967; 4.9

• East Dunbartonshire: 872; 915; 5

• East Lothian: 909.5; 955; 5

• East Renfrewshire: 859; 910; 5.9

• Edinburgh: 960; 1001; 4.3

• Falkirk: 813; 863; 6.2

• Fife: 891; 935; 4.9

• Glasgow: 1120; 1141; 1.9

• Highland: 889; 939; 5.6

• Inverclyde: 1012; 1062; 4.9

• Midlothian: 1001; 1036; 3.5

• Moray: 825; 865; 4.9

• North Ayrshire: 877; 927; 5.7

• North Lanarkshire: 907; 939; 3.5

• Orkney: 754; 824; 9.3

• Perth and Kinross: 875; 936; 7

• Renfrewshire: 896; 941; 5

• Scottish Borders: 785; 864; 10.1

• Shetland: 747; 810; 8.4

• South Lanarkshire: 924; 974; 2.5

• West Lothian: 919; 951; 3.5