THE council tax freeze is saving people living in Scotland's largest houses six times more than those in the most modest homes, previously unpublished Government figures show.

Official statistics released in response to a request from The Herald show that owners of Band H homes will have saved more than £1500 by the end of the current financial year.

By contrast, those in Band A properties are set to save £258 over the same period as a result of freezing bills from 2007/8.

The new figures reveal a widening gulf in savings enjoyed by those in bigger houses compared with people in smaller homes.

Professor Arthur Midwinter, a specialist in public sector finance and an adviser to Scottish Labour, said: "These figures confirm what opponents of the council tax freeze have said all along: that it tends to benefit those at the higher income levels."

Scottish Labour's local government spokeswoman Sarah Boyack urged the Government to bring forward long-promised proposals to replace council tax. She said: "The SNP can use all the arithmetic tricks they want but the fact remains that these figures show those better off are the winners from the council tax freeze."

Between them, people living in the country's 12,355 Band H homes will save £19 million as a result of the council tax freeze by the end of this financial year. By 2015/16 - the final year of the guaranteed freeze - they will have saved approximately £33m.

Taking the top three bands together, people living in Band F, G and H homes will have saved £363.6m between them by the end of this financial year. They are on course to save approximately £630m by the end of 2015/16.

Cumulative savings from 2007/8, the first year of the freeze, to the end of the current financial year 2013/14 range from £258 for Band A bills to £1535 for Band H.

People in Band D homes - often referred to as the average band - will have saved £678 by next April.

The official figures show total savings for Band D bills, affecting 316,245 homes, are projected to rise to £1190 by the end of 2015/16, the guaranteed period of the freeze.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said total savings over the period for other bands were not available as officials had not been asked to calculate them.

However from the Government's Band D calculations, it appears people in Band H homes are set to save approximately £2700 by the end of 2015/16 compared with about £450 for those in Band A properties.

Ms Boyack said: "We already know that local authorities are under tremendous pressure to continue to deliver services because of the SNP's cuts to local government grants and their underfunded council tax freeze.

"John Swinney needs to tell us what his new plan is. There's now widespread acceptance the current situation is unsustainable so what is he going to do to fix council finances and when will he do it?"

In a report last week, Audit Scotland found charges for services such as adult care and leisure centres had risen as councils struggled with cash shortfalls caused by the freeze, which began life as a stop-gap measure until the SNP's promised local income tax (LIT) could be introduced. However, the LIT was shelved in 2009 amid widespread opposition and claims it was unworkable.

SNP ministers have promised to begin discussing possible alternatives to the council tax before the next election but are unlikely to outline a potentially controversial overhaul of the system before next year's independence referendum.

Government figures show the poorest 10% of Scots save 1% of their income as a result of the freeze this year, compared with 0.4% for those in the wealthiest 10% of the population.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "In relative terms, households in the bottom deciles are, on average, estimated to see the greatest benefit as a proportion of their net income.

"Pensioner households see the largest gains as a proportion of their net income."