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The Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2020

S.I. 2020/276 · Made 11 March 2020

Original text. legislation.gov.uk does not revise statutory instruments, so later amendments are not shown here. Changes made to it are listed under each provision when known.

Constitutional Law

Devolution, Scotland

Employment And Training

Made 11th March 2020

Coming into force in accordance with article 1

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 11th day of March 2020

Present,

The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council

This Order is made by Her Majesty in Council in exercise of the powers conferred upon Her by sections 63(1)(b), 113(3)(b), (4)(a) and (5)(a) and 124(2) of the Scotland Act 1998f1.

In accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 7 to that Actf2, a draft of this Order has been—

(a)

laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament; and

(b)

laid before and approved by a resolution of the Scottish Parliament.

Accordingly, Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, makes the following Order:

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

1998 c.46.

f2

Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 7 are relevantly modified by paragraph 3(2) of schedule 4 to the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 (asp 10).

Contents

  1. 1Citation and commencement
  2. 2Functions exercisable concurrently by the Secretary of State and the Scottish Ministers
  3. 3Information sharing: HMRC information
  4. 4Information sharing: social security information, etc.
  5. 5General modification of enactments
  6. Signature
  7. Explanatory note

1Citation and commencement

(1)

This Order may be cited as the Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2020.

(2)

This Order comes into force on the day after the day on which it is made.

2Functions exercisable concurrently by the Secretary of State and the Scottish Ministers

(1)

The functions of the Secretary of State under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973f1 are exercisable by the Scottish Ministers concurrently with the Secretary of State insofar as they—

(a)

are exercisable in or as regards Scotland; and

(b)

are not exercisable by the Scottish Ministers by virtue of section 53 of the Scotland Act 1998f2.

(2)

But the Scottish Ministers may only exercise those functions, by virtue of paragraph (1), to make an arrangement under which a person in the circumstances described by paragraph (3) or (4) may be given assistance to retain employment.

(3)

The circumstances are—

(a)

an offer of employment was made to the person when the person was—

(i)

16 years of age or over; but

(ii)

under 25 years of age;

(b)

the person was not in employment at any point in the 6 months before the offer was made; and

(c)

the person applied to the Scottish Ministers for assistance under the arrangements made by virtue of paragraph (1) within the period of one year beginning with the day that the offer was made.

(4)

The circumstances are—

(a)

an offer of employment was made to the person when the person was—

(i)

16 years of age or over; but

(ii)

under 26 years of age;

(b)

the person—

(i)

was looked after by a local authority on or after the person’s 16th birthday; and

(ii)

is no longer looked after by a local authority; and

(c)

the person applied to the Scottish Ministers for assistance under the arrangements made by virtue of paragraph (1) within the period of one year beginning with the day that the offer was made.

(5)

For the purposes of paragraph (4)(b), a person is looked after by a local authority if—

(a)

the person is looked after, within the meaning of section 17(6) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995f3, by a local authority in Scotland;

(b)

the person is looked after, within the meaning of section 105(4) of the Children Act 1989f4, by a local authority in England or Wales; or

(c)

the person is looked after, within the meaning of article 25 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995f5, by an authority in Northern Ireland.

(6)

For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this article requires the Scottish Ministers to make an arrangement to assist every person in the circumstances described by paragraphs (3) and (4).

3Information sharing: HMRC information

In section 127 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012f1 (information-sharing between Secretary of State and HMRC)—

(a)

after subsection (2) insert—

“(2A)

Information to which subsection (1) applies may be supplied to the Scottish Ministers for use in connection with any arrangements made by them under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973 by virtue of article 2(1) of the Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2020.”;

(b)

in subsection (5)(a), after “(2)” insert “or (2A)”.

4Information sharing: social security information, etc.

(1)

In section 72 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999f1 (supply of information for certain purposes), in subsection (4), after paragraph (b) insert—

“(c)

any arrangements made by the Scottish Ministers under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973 by virtue of article 2(1) of the Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2020.”.

(2)

In regulation 13 of the Social Security (Claims and Information) Regulations 1999f2 (information), in paragraph (1), after sub-paragraph (b)(v) insert—

“(vi)

to the Scottish Ministers in connection with arrangements made under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973 by virtue of article 2(1) of the Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2020.”.

5General modification of enactments

Section 117 of the Scotland Act 1998 (general modification of enactments: Ministers of the Crown)f1 applies in relation to the exercise of functions by the Scottish Ministers by virtue of article 2(1) as it applies in relation to the exercise of functions by the Scottish Ministers within devolved competence.

Signature

Richard Tilbrook

Clerk of the Privy Council

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

The Order, made under the Scotland Act 1998 (“the Scotland Act”), provides for certain functions conferred on the Secretary of State by section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973 (“the 1973 Act”) to make arrangements to help young people retain employment, so far as they are exercisable in or as regards Scotland, to be exercisable concurrently by the Scottish Ministers.

It also provides that these functions are exercisable concurrently to the extent that they are not otherwise exercisable by Scottish Ministers. The Section H3 Job search and support reservation, in Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act, reserves the subject matter of the 1973 Act except insofar as relating to training for employment, and the matters listed in Exceptions 1 and 2 to Section H3. These excepted functions are exercisable by the Scottish Ministers by virtue of section 53 of the Scotland Act.

When the functions are exercised by the Scottish Ministers, the requirement for Treasury consent under section 2(5) of the Employment and Training Act 1973 does not apply (see section 63(2) of the Scotland Act).

Articles 3 and 4 modify three enactments, in connection with the provisions made by this Order. This will enable the sharing of Revenue and Customs information and social security information with the Scottish Ministers in connection with any arrangements they make by virtue of this Order to help young people retain employment.

Section 117 of the Scotland Act allows statutory references to a Minister of the Crown to be read as (or as including) references to the Scottish Ministers in connection with the Scottish Ministers’ exercise of a devolved function nominally conferred on a Minister of the Crown. Article 5 applies section 117 to the Scottish Ministers’ exercise of the functions which they are concurrently empowered to exercise by virtue of this Order. This means that, in this context, the various references to the Secretary of State in section 2 of the 1973 Act can be read as including references to the Scottish Ministers.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.