The Education and Training (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2000

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations replace regulations 7(3) and (4), and make consequential changes to regulation 1(2), of, and insert new regulations 7(3A) (3C) into, the Education and Training (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (S.S.I. 2000/292) (“the principal Regulations”).

At present, regulation 7(3) of the principal Regulations provides that grants may be paid in respect of travel, accommodation or other costs incurred by a learning account holder as a result of his undertaking relevant education or training, subject to conditions of eligibility determined by the Scottish Ministers.

These Regulations replace the existing regulation 7(3) with a provision which provides that the Scottish Ministers may pay grants to learning account holders:

(a) in respect of any travel and subsistence costs incurred as a result of undertaking relevant education or training, provided that they meet the conditions specified in the new regulations 7(3A) and (3C) (inserted by regulation 2(4)). The conditions specified in those regulations are that the learning account holder is in receipt of certain social security benefits (or, in the case of working families tax credit, whose spouse is in receipt of that benefit) and that he resides in either the Borders local government area or certain electoral wards of Highland Council (compromising the district of Lochaber); and

(b) in respect of childcare costs incurred as a result of their undertaking relevant education or training, provided that they meet the conditions specified in the new regulations 7(3B) and (3C). The conditions specified in those regulations are that the learning account holder is a lone parent in receipt of certain social security benefits payable to families with children and the residence condition referred to in the preceding paragraph.

The residence condition for each of these grants is imposed because payment of these grants is being undertaken as a pilot scheme, and these areas have been chosen for the purposes of that scheme. It is intended that the operation of this pilot scheme will be reviewed within a year.

Regulation 2(5) substitutes a new regulation 7(4) into the principal Regulations which provides that the amount and manner of timing of payment of the grants referred to above shall be determined by the Scottish Ministers, and that different amounts may be determined for different categories of learning account holder. This provision differs from regulation 7(4) as originally enacted in that it omits the reference in the latter to the Scottish Ministers determining the conditions of eligibility for these grants. These conditions are now specified in regulations 7(3A) 3(C).