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Explanatory note

Original text. Later amendments are not shown.

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend regulations made under the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986. They remove financial eligibility and merits assessments for any child accessing assistance by way of representation (“ABWOR”) in relation to proceedings under the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 (“the 2011 Act”), provide that such assistance may cover a range of matters by way of a single application and raise the initial expenditure limit so that more work may be done on such cases before the approval of the Scottish Legal Aid Board (“SLAB”) is required. They also amend regulations so that care experience assistance paid by virtue of regulations made under section 93A(1) of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (“a care leaver payment”) is to be disregarded by SLAB in the assessment and computation of that person’s disposable capital and income.

Regulation 3 increases the initial expenditure limit for ABWOR provided to a child in relation to proceedings under the 2011 Act.

Regulation 4 amends the Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Regulations 1996 to disregard a care leaver payment for the purposes of advice and assistance. It also excludes such a payment from bearing fees and outlays when forming part of any recovered or preserved property in proceedings.

Regulation 5 amends the Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) Regulations 2002 to make equivalent provision for the purposes of civil legal aid.

Regulation 6 amends the Advice and Assistance (Assistance by Way of Representation) (Scotland) Regulations 2003 to provide that references in those regulations to a child are to a person under 18 years of age and that where ABWOR is provided to a child for any one of specified proceedings under the 2011 Act it may also be provided for any of the other specified proceedings. Regulation 6 also removes the requirements for a merits assessment and the approval of SLAB in respect of ABWOR provided to a child in relation to proceedings under the 2011 Act.

Regulation 7 amends the Children’s Legal Assistance (Scotland) Regulations 2013 to disregard a care leaver payment for the purposes of children’s legal aid.