The Council Tax Reduction (State Pension Credit) (Scotland) Regulations 2012

Made: 21st November 2012

Laid before the Scottish Parliament: 23rd November 2012

Coming into force: 28th January 2013

The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers in sections 80 and 113(1) and (2) of, and paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to, the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and all other powers enabling them to do so.

PART 1 — General

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Council Tax Reduction (State Pension Credit) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 and come into force on 28th January 2013.

Interpretation

2

• (1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “the 1973 Act” means the Employment and Training Act 1973 ;

• “the 1980 Act” means the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 ;

• “the 1992 Act” means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 ;

• “the 2006 Order” means the Naval, Military and Air Forces Etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions Order 2006 ;

• “Abbeyfield Home” means an establishment run by the Abbeyfield Society including all bodies corporate or unincorporate which are affiliated to that Society;

• “the Act” means the Local Government Finance Act 1992;

• ...

• “adoption leave” means a period of absence from work on ordinary or additional adoption leave by virtue of section 75A or 75B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 ;

• “adult disability payment” means—disability assistance for adults given in accordance with the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022 (and references to the daily living component of that payment are to be construed in accordance with regulation 2 of those Regulations), andwhere short-term assistance is being given under Part 1 of schedule 2 (short-term assistance) of those Regulations, the “earlier determination” referred to in paragraph 1(1)(a) of that schedule is to be deemed to continue in payment for the purposes of these Regulations;

• “alternative maximum council tax reduction” means the amount of council tax reduction calculated in accordance with regulation 56 and Schedule 5;

• “applicable amount” means the amount calculated in accordance with regulation 20 and Schedule 1;

• “applicant” means a person applying for council tax reduction or, as the case may be, a person who is entitled to council tax reduction whose entitlement is or may be subject to re-assessment by the relevant authority;

• “application” means an application for council tax reduction;

• “appropriate maximum council tax reduction” means the maximum council tax reduction applicable to a person calculated in accordance with regulation 47;

• “armed forces independence payment” means armed forces independence payment under the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2011;

• “assessment period” means a period described in regulation 31 (calculation of weekly income) or 34 (calculation of earnings of self-employed earners) over which income falls to be calculated;

• “attendance allowance” means—an attendance allowance under Part 3 of the 1992 Act ;an increase of disablement pension under section 104 or 105 of the 1992 Act;...a payment by virtue of article 14, 15, 16, 43 or 44 of the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983 or any analogous payment; orany payment based on need for attendance which is paid as part of a war disablement pension;

• “basic rate” has the same meaning as in section 989 of the Income Tax Act 2007 ;

• “the benefit Acts” means the 1992 Act, the Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004 insofar as it relates to armed forces independence payment, Part 4 (personal independence payment) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, the Pensions Act 2014, the Jobseekers Act 1995 , the Welfare Reform Act 2007 and the State Pension Credit Act 2002 ;

• “board and lodging accommodation” means accommodation provided to a person, or if that person is a member of a family, to that person or any other member of that person's family, for a charge which is inclusive of the provision of that accommodation and at least some cooked or prepared meals which are cooked or prepared (by a person other than the person to whom the accommodation is provided or a member of that person's family) and consumed in that accommodation or associated premises;

• “care home” in Scotland means a care home service within the meaning given by paragraph 2 of schedule 12 to the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 and in England and Wales has the meaning given by section 3 of the Care Standards Act 2000 ;

• “carer support payment” means carer’s assistance payable under the Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023,

• “carer's allowance” means an allowance under section 70 of the 1992 Act ;

• ...

• “child” means a person under the age of 16 and where section 145A of the 1992 Act (entitlement after death of a child or qualifying young person) applies, then during the period prescribed under subsection (1) of that section (and only during that period)—references in these Regulations to a child include the child in respect of whom there is entitlement under that section; andfor the purposes of these Regulations the circumstances pertaining to the child at the date of their death are deemed to continue throughout that period;

• “child benefit” means child benefit under section 141 of the 1992 Act ;

• “child disability payment” means—disability assistance for children and young people given in accordance with the Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (and references to the care component of that payment are to be construed in accordance with regulation 2 of those Regulations), andwhere short-term assistance is being given under Part 1 of the schedule of those Regulations (short-term assistance), the “earlier determination” referred to in paragraph 1(1)(a) of that schedule is to be deemed to continue in payment for the purposes of these Regulations,

• “child tax credit” means a child tax credit under section 8 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 ;

• “civil partnership” means a civil partnership which exists under or by virtue of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (and “civil partner” is to be construed accordingly);

• “close relative” means a parent, parent-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-parent, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister or, if any of the preceding persons is one member of a couple, the other member of that couple;

• “contributory employment and support allowance” means a contributory allowance under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 ;

• “council tax benefit” means council tax benefit under the Council Tax Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 ;

• “council tax reduction” means a reduction in liability for council tax calculated in accordance with these Regulations;

• “the Council Tax Reduction Regulations” means the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Regulations 2021;

• “couple” means—two people who are married to each other and are members of the same household, but not if the marriage is a polygamous marriage;two people who are civil partners of each other and are members of the same household; ortwo people who are neither married to each other nor civil partners of each other but who are living together as if they were married to each other;

• “course of study” means any course of study, whether or not it is a sandwich course and whether or not an educational grant or award is made for attending or undertaking it;

• “date of application” means the date on which the application is made, or treated as made, for the purposes of regulation 5(9) (occupation of a dwelling as a home) and regulation 65 (date on which an application is made);

• “designated office” means the office designated by the relevant authority as the office to which applications should be sent;

• “disability living allowance” means a disability living allowance under section 71 of the 1992 Act ;

• “discount” means discount under section 79 of the Act (discount of the amount of council tax payable);

• “earnings” has the meaning given by regulation 32 (earnings of employed earners) or, as the case may be, regulation 35 (earnings of self-employed earners);

• “educational establishment” has the meaning given by section 135(1) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 ;

• ...

• “employed earner” is to be construed in accordance with section 2(1)(a) of the 1992 Act and also includes a person who is in receipt of a payment which is payable under any enactment having effect in Northern Ireland and which corresponds to statutory sick pay or statutory maternity pay;

• “employment and support allowance” means employment and support allowance under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 ;

• “Employment and Support Allowance Regulations” means the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008 ;

• “enactment” includes an enactment contained in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament;

• “extended council tax reduction (qualifying contributory benefits)” means an extension of a period of entitlement to council tax reduction under regulation 49;

• “family” means—a couple;a couple and a member of the same household for whom one of them is, or both are, responsible and who is a child or young person; orsubject to regulation 22 (circumstances in which capital and income of non-dependant is to be treated as applicant's), a person who is not a member of a couple and a member of the same household for whom the person is responsible and who is a child or a young person;

• “first authority” means the relevant authority to which a mover was liable to pay council tax for the dwelling that person resided in immediately before moving to the dwelling in the area of the second authority;

• the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland” means the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, established by section 1 of the Tribunals (Scotland) Act 2014;

• “full-time student” means a person attending or undertaking a full-time course of study ;

• ...

• “Grenfell Tower payment” means a payment made for the purpose of providing compensation or support in respect of the fire on 14 June 2017 at Grenfell Tower;

• “guarantee credit” is to be construed in accordance with sections 1 and 2 of the State Pension Credit Act 2002 ;

• “guaranteed income payment” means a payment referred to in article 15(1)(c) or 29(1)(a) of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2011 and determined in accordance with article 24 of that Order ;

• “the Horizon System” means any version of the computer system used by the Post Office known as Horizon, Horizon Legacy, Horizon Online or HNG-X;

• “housing benefit” means housing benefit under section 130 of the 1992 Act ;

• “ILF Scotland” means the company limited by guarantee under the name ILF Scotland, registered under number SC 500075;

• “incapacity benefit” means incapacity benefit under section 30A, 40 or 41 of the 1992 Act ;

• “income” has the meaning given by regulation 27 (meaning of “income”);

• “an income-based jobseeker's allowance” and “a joint-claim jobseeker's allowance” have the same meaning as they have in the Jobseekers Act 1995 by virtue of section 1(4) of that Act ;

• “income-related employment and support allowance” means an income-related allowance under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 ;

• “income support” means income support under section 124 of the 1992 Act;

• “Income Support Regulations” means the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 ;

• “independent hospital”—in Scotland, means an independent health care service as defined in section 10F(1)(a) and (b) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 ;in England, means a hospital as defined by section 275 of the National Health Service Act 2006 that is not a health service hospital as defined by that section; andin Wales, has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000 ;

• ...

• “infected blood payment scheme” means a scheme established by, or with the approval of, the Scottish Ministers, the Secretary of State, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Welsh Ministers or the Department of Health in Northern Ireland, or a trust established with funds provided by the Secretary of State, for making compensation, support orex gratia payments to or in respect of persons who—have been infected as a result of being treated with blood, blood products or tissue,have been infected as a result of another person being treated with blood, blood products or tissue, orhave been affected by another person being infected as described in sub-paragraph (a) or (b);

• “invalid carriage or other vehicle” means a vehicle propelled by a petrol engine or by electric power supplied for use on the road and to be controlled by the occupant;

• “LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme” means the scheme under which payments are made to persons who served under, and were impacted by, the ban on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender personnel in the armed forces of the Crown from 1967 to 2000;

• “limited capability for work” has the meaning given by section 1(4) of the Welfare Reform Act 2007;

• “local authority” in Scotland means a council constituted by section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 ;

• “the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund” means the company limited by guarantee (number 5505072) and registered charity of that name established on 11th July 2005 for the purpose of (amongst other things) relieving sickness, disability or financial need of victims (including families or dependants of victims) of the terrorist attacks carried out in London on 7th July 2005;

• “the London Emergencies Trust” means the company of that name (number 09928465) incorporated on 23rd December 2015 and registered charity of that name (number 1172307) established on 28th March 2017 for the purpose of (amongst other things) relieving sickness, disability or financial need of victims of emergency incidents occurring in Greater London;

• “lone parent” means a person who has no partner and who is responsible for and a member of the same household as a child or young person;

• ...

• ...

• ...

• “main phase employment and support allowance” means an employment and support allowance where the calculation of the amount payable in respect of the applicant includes a component under section 2(1)(b) or 4(2)(b) of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 or the applicant is a member of the work-related activity group;

• “maternity leave” means a period during which a woman is absent from work because she is pregnant or has given birth to a child, and at the end of which she has a right to return to work under the terms of her contract of employment or under Part 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 ;

• “medically approved” means certified by a medical practitioner;

• “member of a couple” means a member of a married or unmarried couple;

• “member of the work-related activity group” means a person who has or is treated as having limited capability for work under either—Part 5 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008 other than by virtue of regulation 30 of those Regulations; orPart 4 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013 other than by virtue of regulation 26 of those Regulations;

• ...

• “mover” means a person who moves from a dwelling in which the person is resident, and in respect of which the person is liable to pay council tax to the first authority, to reside in a dwelling in the area of the second authority and any reference to a mover is to be construed as including a reference to the mover's partner;

• “neonatal care leave” means leave under section 80EF the Employment Rights Act 1996;

• “net earnings” means earnings calculated in accordance with regulation 33 (calculation of net earnings of employed earners);

• “net profit” means profit calculated in accordance with regulation 36 (calculation of net profit of self-employed earners);

• “new dwelling” means, for the purposes of the definition of “second authority” and regulation 52 (extended council tax reduction (qualifying contributory benefits): movers), the dwelling to which an applicant has moved, or is about to move, in which the applicant is or will be resident;

• “non-dependant” has the meaning given by regulation 3 (non-dependants);

• “non-dependant deduction” means a deduction that is to be made under regulation 48 (non-dependant deductions);

• “occupational pension” means any pension or other periodical payment under an occupational pension scheme but does not include any discretionary payment out of a fund established for relieving hardship in particular cases;

• “official error” means an error made by an officer of the Department for Work and Pensions acting as such which no person outside the Department caused or to which no person outside the Department materially contributed to but excludes any error of law which is shown to have been an error by virtue of a subsequent decision of the Upper Tribunal or a court;

• ...

• ...

• “parental bereavement leave” means leave under section 80EA of the Employment Rights Act 1996;

• “partner” means—where an applicant is a member of a couple, the other member of that couple; orwhere an applicant is polygamously married to two or more members of the applicant's household, any such member to whom the applicant is married;