Date Legislation considered: 19 December 2022
Date Legislation in Force: 01 August 2023
Potential Right(s) Affected: Residence/Equal Treatment/Discrimination
What does the legislation do?
The Education (Fees and Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2022(“the Regulations”) amend the eligibility categories in Schedule 1 of both the Education (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 (“the Fees Regulations”) and the Student Support (Scotland) Regulations 2022 (“the Support Regulations”) to remove unnecessary drafting following EU Exit and to clarify the home fee status of EU nationals and their family members who have been living in the United Kingdom for less than 3 years.
They address an issue that was identified by the IMA in an earlier review of the Fees Regulations.
Regulation 2(4) of these Regulations amends the list of students (known as excepted students) within Schedule 1 of the Fees Regulations. These are students for whom it is unlawful for Scottish Higher Education Institutions to charge higher fees. This category has been amended to include those EU citizens who have not been resident in the UK for 3 years but who have protected rights under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements. Such citizens now need to be resident at the ‘relevant date’ which for courses starting in the period 1 August to 31 December means 1 August in that year. There are different ‘relevant dates’ depending on when a course starts.
Regulation 3(9) also amends paragraph 21 of Schedule 1 to the Student Support Regulations to make it clear that eligibility under that paragraph only applies to those EU nationals and family members with protected rights who have not been ordinarily resident in the UK for 3 years.
Comments
The IMA raises no issues of concern, however any citizen experiencing difficulties in exercising their rights are encouraged to report a complaint through the IMA Portal.
Further information about the IMA and guidance on how to report complaints can also be found on the Website.