Welfare Reform Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Official Report 495KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/303)

Our final agenda item this morning—item 6—is subordinate legislation: the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Regulations 2012. At our previous meeting, we heard from the Scottish Government, COSLA and Glasgow City Council on the council tax reduction scheme that the regulations provide for and the timing of the regulations to enable local authorities to process their council tax information in early 2013 for the next financial year.

Since our meeting, the Subordinate Legislation Committee has reported on the regulations, and today we have an opportunity to consider the issues noted by that committee. Additionally, the note provided for members invites us to note a matter that was identified by the Scottish committee of the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council.

Do any members have comments on the regulations?

I am going to be the committee’s legal bore on these things, but I take on that role willingly. The Subordinate Legislation Committee has made certain points, and it seems to me that the Scottish Government has said that it will correct those things. The Scottish committee has flagged up something but has not made a formal process note or whatever it would be called that would preclude our going ahead and approving the instrument if we want to do that or our not noting any objection—whatever is the right way of doing it.

Taking that into account, and bearing in mind the comments that COSLA members made at our meeting on 13 November about the importance of the regulations being on the statute book, which are referred to in paragraph 13 of our briefing note, I think that we should take our responsibilities very seriously. It is clear that the regulations require to be on the statute book, and I do not think that the various points that have been raised are of sufficient order to preclude our proceeding according to the overriding interest of meeting the timescale.

The question is whether we just want to note the regulations. Is the committee agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

That ends today’s meeting and the committee’s meetings for this year. We will not have another one before Christmas, so I officially wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Meeting closed at 12:32.