Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee Draft Report

Title: The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Transitional Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2013

These Regulations set out the transitional provisions to allow current claimants of council tax benefit to be automatically transferred to the new council tax reduction scheme without having to make a new application.

The transitional provisions cover:

· A person in receipt of council tax benefit;

· A person who has made an application to receive council tax benefit;

· A person whose entitlement to council tax benefit is wholly or partially suspended;

· A person who has applied for a revision in respect of a decision in relation to council tax benefit entitlement and the outcome of this revision is still pending;

· A person who has appealed against a decision in relation to a claim for council tax benefit and whose appeal is still pending.

Procedure:  Affirmative

Technical Scrutiny

Under Standing Order 21.2 the Assembly is invited to pay special attention to the following instrument:-

1.       These Regulations have not been made bilingually.

[21.2(ix) – that it is not made or to be made in both English and Welsh].

The Welsh Government state in paragraph 2 of the Explanatory Memorandum:

“Given the complexity of the regulations, the timescales in which they have been produced, and the fact that there is no Welsh equivalent, it has not been possible to translate the regulations within the necessary timescales. As a result these regulations will be made in English only.”

Merits Scrutiny

No points are identified for reporting under Standing Order 21.3 in respect of this instrument

Legal Advisers

Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee

January 2013

Government Response

Given the complexity of the regulations, the timescales within which they were produced, and the fact that there was no existing Welsh equivalent, regrettably it was not possible to translate the regulations in order to provide a bilingual version of the statutory instrument.  When I wrote to you in November in connection with the Council Tax Reduction Scheme Regulations I advised that unfortunately this may be the case.