The Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Amendment (No. 3) Regulations 2022

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make amendments to the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (“the Working Age Regulations”).

Regulations 3(1)(a) and 3(3) correct typographical errors.

Regulations 3(1)(b) and 3(2) make amendments following on the insertion by the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 (“the 2022 Regulations”) of provision for certain kinship carers to have an additional amount added to their applicable amount where a child or young person who is entitled to or in receipt of a disability benefit is placed with them. They also make amendments to reflect the provision made by regulation 3(4)(e) of these Regulations for entitlement to a disability premium of council tax reduction on the basis of entitlement to short-term assistance.

Regulation 3(4)(a) provides that the personal allowance of a single applicant who has an award of Universal Credit and limited capability for work or limited capability for work and work-related activity, is at the same level as that of a single applicant who is entitled to main phase Employment and Support Allowance, regardless of the age of the applicant.

Regulations 3(4)(b), (d), (f) and (h) make amendments to the Working Age Regulations, additional to those made by the 2022 Regulations, to reflect fully the introduction of the new form of social security assistance known as adult disability payment, provided for by the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022.

Regulation 3(4)(e) inserts new provision into schedule 1 so that entitlement to the disabled child premium and, where appropriate, the enhanced disability premium of council tax reduction continues where there is an entitlement to short-term assistance under the Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Regulations 2021. The same applies where a young person is entitled to short-term assistance under the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022. Regulation 3(4)(c) makes a consequential change to paragraphs 4 and 4A of schedule 1, to reflect the provision relating to short-term assistance.

Regulation 3(4)(g) substitutes a new paragraph 11(b) of schedule 1 to broaden the circumstances in which the condition set out in paragraph 11(b) of schedule 1 for entitlement to the disability premium can potentially be met.

Regulation 3(4)(i) corrects errors in references to the carer element of Universal Credit.

Regulation 3(4)(j) substitutes a new paragraph 14(1) of schedule 1 so that, in relation to entitlement to the enhanced disability premium of council tax reduction connected with child disability payment, the paragraph applies only where child disability payment is payable in respect of the applicant or the partner of the applicant. Regulation 3(4)(k) removes reference to paragraph 14 of schedule 1 in paragraph 17 of schedule 1, to give effect to the change. The substituted paragraph 14(1) also reflects the fact that the question of whether the member of a couple who is in receipt of a benefit specified in paragraph 14 has, or has not, reached pensionable age, is no longer of significance in relation to entitlement to the enhanced disability premium.

Regulation 3(5)(a) expands paragraph 4(3)(a) of schedule 3 of the Working Age Regulations, catering for the situation where an award of universal credit is not increased to reflect the fact of having limited capability for work. It also ensures consistency in use of terminology, by replacing references to “qualifying age for state pension credit” with “pensionable age”.

Regulation 3(5)(b) expands paragraph 12(6)(a) of schedule 3 of the Working Age Regulations to include reference to the meaning of “exempt work” in the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013.

Regulation 4 makes amendments to schedule 1 to ensure that the changes made by the 2022 Regulations to amounts set out in the table in paragraph 17 of schedule 1, for the purposes of uprating, are reflected where the amounts are referred to elsewhere in the Working Age Regulations.