The Education (Fees, Awards and Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2013

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Education (Access Funds) Regulations 1990 (“the Access Funds Regulations”), the Repayment of Student Loans (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (“the Repayment Regulations”), the Education (Student Loans for Tuition Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (“the SLTF Regulations”), the Education Authority Bursaries (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (“the Bursaries Regulations”), the Nursing and Midwifery Student Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (“the Nursing Regulations”), the Education (Fees and Awards) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (“the 2007 Fees Regulations”), the Students’ Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (“the Allowances Regulations”), the Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (“the Loans Regulations”), the Education Maintenance Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (“the EMA Regulations”) and the Education (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (“the 2011 Fees Regulations”).

Regulation 3 amends regulation 2 (making of grants) of the Access Funds Regulations to provide that, in addition to paying grants to the managers of the types of college of further education for which provision is made in paragraphs (c) to (e) of regulation 2 of the Access Funds Regulations, the Scottish Ministers may make grants to the managers of any other college of further education.

Regulations 5 to 7 amend the Repayment Regulations. Regulation 5 removes the definition “Eurostat” from regulation 10 (interpretation) of the Repayment Regulations. Regulation 6 amends regulation 13A (repayment by income related instalments) of the Repayment Regulations by substituting a new paragraph (3) to provide that the Scottish Ministers must determine the amount of each instalment and must ensure that instalments over a period of 12 months from the first instalment do not exceed the “relevant amount” (for which provision is made in regulation 13A(4)) and by making a corresponding amendment to paragraph (5) to reflect that instalments may be of different amounts. Regulation 7 amends regulation 13B (calculation of fixed income instalment) of the Repayment Regulations to substitute a new paragraph (4) to provide that price level indices shall be calculated using the most recent provisional comparative price level indices measured in gross domestic product produced by the World Bank’s Development Indicators, to remove paragraph (5) and to remove the reference to paragraph (5) in paragraph (6).

Regulations 9, 12, 15, 18, 21(2), 25, 29(a) and 32(2) amend the definition of “family member” in all of the SLTF Regulations, the Bursaries Regulations, the Nursing Regulations, the 2007 Fees Regulations, the Allowances Regulations, the Loans Regulations, the EMA Regulations and the 2011 Fees Regulations. Regulation 21(3) and (4) amends regulation 2(3) and (4) of the Allowances Regulations to clarify the interpretation of not only paragraph 1(a) of Schedule 1 to those Regulations but also paragraphs 5(b), 6(a)(iii) and (b), 6A(a)(iii) and (b) and 7(c) of Schedule 1. Regulation 32(3) and (4) makes equivalent amendments to the 2011 Fees Regulations. Regulation 29(b) removes the definition “Free Movement Regulation” from the EMA Regulations.

Regulations 10, 13, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30 and 33 amend Schedule 1 to each of the SLTF Regulations, the Bursaries Regulations, the Nursing Regulations, the 2007 Fees Regulations, the Allowances Regulations, the Loans Regulations, the EMA Regulations and the 2011 Fees Regulations. Regulation 10 amends paragraph 3(1)(a)(ii) of Schedule 1 to the SLTF Regulations to remove the reference to Article 12 of the now repealed Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1612/68 on the free movement of workers and to replace it with a reference to Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No. 492/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on freedom of movement for workers within the Union, which has been extended by the EEA agreement. Regulations 13(2), 16(2), 19(2), 23(2), 27(2), 30 and 33(2)) make equivalent amendments to, respectively, the Bursaries Regulations, the Nursing Regulations, the 2007 Fees Regulations, the Allowances Regulations, the Loans Regulations, the EMA Regulations and the 2011 Fees Regulations. Regulation 13(3) amends paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to the Bursaries Regulations, first to substitute a new sub-paragraph (1)(a) to provide that the paragraph applies to a person who is an EC national or the family member of an EC national accompanying or joining the EC national in the United Kingdom and, second, to substitute a new sub-paragraph (3)(b) to provide for the circumstances in which a United Kingdom national will be considered to have utilised a right of residence for the purposes of that paragraph. Regulations 16(3), 19(3), 23(3), 27(3), and 33(3)) make equivalent amendments to, respectively, the Nursing Regulations, the 2007 Fees Regulations, the Allowances Regulations, the Loans Regulations and the 2011 Fees Regulations.

Regulation 22 amends regulation 3(1) (persons eligible for allowances) of the Allowances Regulations to provide that a person will not be eligible for an allowance if the person has, in the opinion of the Scottish Ministers, shown themselves by their conduct to be unfitted to receive an allowance.

Regulation 26 amends regulation 11(1) (means test) of the Loans Regulations to provide the Scottish Ministers with a discretion as to the means testing of loans payable under the Loans Regulations (rather than obliging the Scottish Ministers to means test such loans on the basis set out there).