{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/council-tax-reduction-schemes-prescribed-requirements-and-default-scheme-wales-amendment-regulations-2020/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/council-tax-reduction-schemes-prescribed-requirements-and-default-scheme-wales-amendment-regulations-2020/note.json",
  "legislation": "wsi/2020/16",
  "legislation_title": "The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/council-tax-reduction-schemes-prescribed-requirements-and-default-scheme-wales-amendment-regulations-2020",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Regulations)\nThese Regulations amend the Council Tax Reduction Schemes and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013 (“the Prescribed Requirements Regulations”) and the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Default Scheme) (Wales) Regulations 2013 (“the Default Scheme Regulations”) made under section 13A(4) and (5) of, and Schedule 1B to, the Local Government Finance Act 1992.\nThe Prescribed Requirements Regulations require each billing authority in Wales to make a scheme specifying the reductions which are to apply to amounts of council tax payable by persons, or classes of persons, whom the authority considers are in financial need. The Prescribed Requirements Regulations also set out the matters that must be included within such a scheme.\nThe Default Scheme Regulations set out a scheme that will take effect, in respect of dwellings situated in the area of a billing authority, if the authority fails to make its own scheme.\nThese Regulations amend both the Prescribed Requirements and the Default Scheme Regulations.\nThe amendments to the Prescribed Requirements Regulations made by regulations 3, 5, 7(b) to (e) and 9(b) to (d) are made in consequence of the introduction of Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay for eligible parents under powers provided for in the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018. The same amendments are made to the Default Scheme Regulations by regulations 12, 14 and 17 to 22.\nThe amendment to the Prescribed Requirements Regulations made by regulation 4 is made in consequence of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019 and regulations made under that Act that make provision for opposite sex civil partnerships. The definition of “couple” is amended to include two people who are living together as if they are civil partners. The same amendment is made in relation to the Default Scheme Regulations by regulation 13.\nThe amendments to the Prescribed Requirements Regulations made by regulation 6 are made to the prescribed requirement that persons treated as not being in Great Britain must not be included in an authority’s scheme. A person is treated as not being in Great Britain if they are not habitually resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland. No person shall be treated as habitually resident without a relevant right to reside. Regulation 6(a) and (c) updates references to the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 with references to the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 as the latter revoked the former. Regulation 6(b) provides that a number of rights to reside established for nationals of European Economic Area states in connection with the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU are not relevant rights to reside for the purposes of establishing habitual residence. The same amendments are made to the Default Scheme Regulations by regulation 15.\nThe amendments to the Prescribed Requirements Regulations made by regulations 7(a), 8, 9(a) and 10 increase certain figures that are used in calculating whether a person is entitled to a reduction and the amount of that reduction. The uprated figures relate to non-dependant deductions (adjustments made to the maximum amount of reduction a person can receive to take account of adults living in the dwelling who are not dependants of the applicant); and the applicable amount in relation to an application for a reduction (the amount against which an applicant’s income is compared in order to determine the amount of reduction to which the applicant is entitled). The same amendments are made in relation to the Default Scheme Regulations by regulations 16, 23 and 24.\nThe Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Local Government Strategic Finance Division, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2020/16/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-28T23:17:46.120899+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}