Mental health moratorium
Section 1 – Moratorium on debt recovery action: debtors who have a mental illness
6.This section imposes a duty on the Scottish Ministers to make provision by regulations to establish a moratorium (meaning a temporary suspension for a set amount of time) on debt recovery action in relation to individuals who have a mental illness. Subsection (2) sets out the things that regulations under this section may include provision about, but the list is neither exhaustive nor mandatory.
7.Regulations under this section will be subject to the affirmative procedure. The regulations may make different provision for different purposes, modify any legislation and include incidental, supplementary, consequential, transitional, transitory or saving provision.
Section 2 – Procedure for first regulations under section 1
8.This section creates a procedure for the first set of regulations which are made under section 1. Before laying draft regulations before the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Ministers must lay a copy of the proposed draft regulations before the Scottish Parliament for 60 days (disregarding any days for which Parliament is dissolved or is in recess for more than 4 days). The Scottish Ministers are to have regard to any representations made to them about the proposed draft regulations. When laying a draft of the first regulations under section 1, the Scottish Ministers must also lay a statement setting out any representations made on the proposed draft regulations and the changes (if any) made as a result of such representations and their reasons for making them.
Section 3 – Review of mental health moratorium
9.Section 3 imposes a one-off duty on the Scottish Ministers to review the operation of the mental health moratorium. As soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the review period (the period of 5 years beginning with the day on which the first regulations under section 1 come into force), the Scottish Ministers must undertake a review of the operation of the moratorium established under section 1, and prepare a report on that review. As soon as reasonably practicable after preparing the report, the Scottish Ministers must publish the report and lay the report before the Scottish Parliament.
See the glossary in the Policy Memorandum for definition of terms.
