The Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Reimbursement of Costs and Expenses) (Scotland) Regulations 2021

Reimbursement of costs incurred in connection with applications or proposed applications

2.—(1) The Scottish Ministers must, following a request in writing on a form provided by them for that purpose, reimburse a person in respect of a relevant cost and expense reasonably incurred by or in respect of an applicant in connection with an application (whether or not the application was successful, and whether or not it was subsequently withdrawn), subject to any appropriate limit specified in paragraph (3).

(2) In this regulation, “a relevant cost and expense” is a cost and expense incurred on or after 11 March 2021—

(a) in relation to—

(i) obtaining information or evidence in connection with the application, or

(ii) verifying such information or evidence for the purposes of the application.

(b) in relation to an applicant who has been invited by Redress Scotland in relation to the determination of an application, or by a review panel in accordance with section 56(1) of the Act, to make oral representations for the purposes of that determination or, as the case may be, a review of that determination—

(i) the travel, subsistence and accommodation costs and expenses of—

(aa) the applicant, and

(bb) a person accompanying the applicant,

(ii) the costs and expenses of making arrangements for the care of children or other dependants of—

(aa) the applicant, and

(bb) a person accompanying the applicant, or

(c) in relation to any other cost and expense which the Scottish Ministers are satisfied was incurred in connection with the application.

(3) For the purposes of these Regulations, “the appropriate limit” in relation to a relevant cost and expense mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) means—

(a) £50, or

(b) a sum greater than £50, where the Scottish Ministers consider that there are exceptional or unexpected circumstances which justify this.

(4) The Scottish Ministers may reimburse a person in respect of costs and expenses reasonably incurred on or after 11 March 2021 in connection with a proposed application by a person who did not subsequently apply where—

(a) the person seeking reimbursement makes a request in writing on a form to be provided by the Scottish Ministers for that purpose, and

(b) the Scottish Ministers are satisfied that the request discloses exceptional or unexpected circumstances which justify the reimbursement of those costs and expenses.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4), “exceptional or unexpected circumstances” includes the case where a person did not subsequently apply for a redress payment because of death or serious illness.

(6) Where a reimbursement request relates to a cost or expense incurred in a currency other than Sterling, the person making the request must calculate the value of the cost and expense by reference to the Sterling equivalent on the date that the cost and expense was incurred.

(7) A reimbursement request must be made—

(a) in the case where it relates to an application, before the end of the period of 8 weeks beginning with the date on which the notice of a determination under section 36 of the Act or, as the case may be, the outcome of any review of that determination under section 57 of the Act, was received by the applicant,

(b) in the case where it relates to a proposed application by a person who did not subsequently apply, before the end of the period of 6 months beginning with the date on which the cost and expense was incurred by that person.

(8) A reimbursement request may be assessed by the Scottish Ministers despite the request for it not being made within the applicable period mentioned in paragraph (7) if the Scottish Ministers are satisfied that the person had a good reason for not making the request sooner.

(9) On receipt of a reimbursement request, the Scottish Ministers must as soon as reasonably practicable—

(a) in the case of a request under paragraph (1), assess—

(i) whether any cost and expense mentioned in the request was reasonably incurred in connection with the application, and

(ii) in relation to a relevant cost and expense mentioned in paragraph (2)(a), the appropriate limit of that cost and expense,

(b) in the case of a request under paragraph (4)—

(i) consider whether the request discloses exceptional or unexpected circumstances which justify the reimbursement of costs and expenses, and

(ii) where satisfied that the request discloses such circumstances, assess whether any cost and expense mentioned in the request was reasonably incurred in connection with the proposed application.

(10) The Scottish Ministers must as soon as reasonably practicable—

(a) notify the person who made the request of the Scottish Ministers’ decision under paragraph (9), and

(b) provide the person with a summary of the reasons for the decision.