Explanatory note

These Regulations are made in accordance with section 12 of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”). They make provision for the payment by local authorities to their members of severance payments, provided they meet specified criteria immediately prior to the date of the next ordinary election that is held after the date on which section 1 of the 2004 Act (electoral wards) will come into force. That section will establish new election arrangements for electoral wards.

Regulation 3 provides for the conditions applying for a person (save for persons described in Regulation 4) to be eligible for a severance payment.

Regulation 4 specifies persons not eligible for a severance payment.

Regulation 5 provides for the amounts of severance payment, depending on the length of service of the member of the local authority, and further provision in regard to calculation of the amounts.

Regulation 6 provides for application procedures to receive a severance payment, the date by which a member must submit an application to be eligible, the information that a member applying for a payment should provide to the local authority, and the date by which each local authority is required to make severance payments to the eligible members of the authority. That Regulation also provides for the date by which a local authority shall provide information to the Scottish Executive in relation to the members applying, and for confirmation by either the head of paid service or the monitoring officer of the authority that they consider the information supplied is accurate.

A member must submit an application to be eligible for a severance payment by a date which is the later of 20th October 2006, or 4 weeks after the date when an Order is made by the Scottish Ministers that reviews the electoral wards in the local authority area. The latter date will be deemed to be 15th December 2006, if it would occur later. Special provision is made for the circumstances set out in Regulation 6(3), where a person connected with the member has recently died before making the application or is terminally ill, when an application can be made by 22nd March 2007.