These Regulations make amendments to the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (Commencement No. 2, Transitory and Saving Provision) Regulations 2018 (“the first principal instrument”) and the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (Commencement No. 4 and Saving Provision) Regulations 2018 (“the second principal instrument”) both of which commenced certain provisions of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (“the 2018 Act”).

Both the first principal instrument and the second principal instrument contain a saving provision to ensure that the commencement of the provisions in those instruments, respectively, had no effect on the arrangements made by regulation 4(2)(a) of the Scotland Act 2016 (Transitional) Regulations 2017 (“the 2017 Regulations”). Those arrangements delay, for a transitional period, the transfer to the Scottish Ministers of the Secretary of State’s functions in relation to certain disability and industrial injury benefits. The 2017 Regulations are to be amended by the Scotland Act 2016 (Transitional) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 with the effect that paragraph 4(2)(a) does not apply where sections 1, 2, 21 or 22 or schedule 1 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 come into force for purposes related to disability assistance which is defined in section 31 of the 2018 Act.

This means that sections 1, 2, 21 or 22 or schedule 1 may have effect for the purposes of disability assistance, without triggering the transfer of executive competence. These Regulations therefore amend the saving provisions made in connection with commencement of those provisions of the 2018 Act as they are no longer required insofar as they relate to disability assistance. The saving provisions now only apply to exception 1(a) insofar as it relates to industrial injuries benefits or 1(c) in section F1 (benefits for disability and industrial injury) in Part 2 of schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998.

Regulation 2(2) substitutes new saving provisions in the first principal instrument to address the amendment to section 4(2)(a) of the 2017 Regulations. Regulation 3(2) substitutes a new saving provision in the second principal instrument to address the amendment to section 4(2)(a) of the 2017 Regulations.