The Council Tax (Discounts) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2014

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Council Tax (Discounts) (Scotland) Consolidation and Amendment Order 2003 (“the 2003 Order”) which makes provision for prescribed persons to be disregarded when calculating the amount of council tax payable by a household in Scotland.

Article 6 of the 2003 Order defines who will be disqualified for the purposes of discount by virtue of being a “student”. Article 3 of this Order amends article 6 of the 2003 Order to include within the definition of “student” persons who have completed a Higher National Certificate (“HNC”) or a Higher National Diploma (“HND”) and who have an offer of a place on the second or third year respectively of a first degree course. That first degree course must start within six months of the completed course.

Article 4 inserts article 6(1A) into the 2003 Order and will ensure that students who receive an offer after their HNC or HND course is completed will be treated as if their offer had been received on the date the course finished.

If the student does not start the new course or for any reason ceases to be able to start the new course then in terms of articles 6(1B) and (1C) their liability to council tax falls to be recalculated as if the offer was never received.