The Council Tax (Discounts) (Scotland) Consolidation and Amendment Order 2003

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order consolidates with amendments and revokes the provisions of the Council Tax (Discounts) (Scotland) Order 1992 (“the 1992 Order”) and Orders amending that Order.

The 1992 Order made provision for certain prescribed persons to be disregarded when calculating the amount of council tax payable by a household in Scotland. This Order consolidates the 1992 Order and its amending Orders (which are revoked in article 10 of this Order).

Article 3 provides for a person to qualify for discount on a particular day if that person is in military detention and certain conditions are fulfilled.

Article 4 provides that, for a person to qualify for discount within the class of the severely mentally impaired, that person must be entitled to one of the benefits listed in the article.

Articles 5 to 8 provide appropriate definitions of persons who will qualify for discount by virtue of being “apprentices”, “students”, “student nurses” or “youth training trainees”.

Article 9 specifies the information to be contained in certificates supplied to students and student nurses and prescribes the educational establishments which are to be responsible for providing such certificates.

The principal changes to the 1992 Order (as amended) are that in article 4 the “disability working allowance” has been renamed the “disabled person’s tax credit” and that in article 5 the gross earnings of apprentices have been uprated in line with second adult rebate cases to £163 per week. Article 7 has also been amended to reflect the fact that courses on nursing and midwifery are provided at Further and Higher Educational Institutions.