
1 
These Regulations may be cited as the Personal Community Charge (Exemption for the Severely Mentally Impaired) (Scotland) Regulations 1989 and shall come into force on 29th December 1989.
2 
In these Regulations—
 “the Act” means the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987;
 “exempt” means exempt from liability to pay the personal community charge and the personal community water charge under paragraph 4 of Schedule 1A to the Act;
 “the old definition of severely mentally impaired” means the definition in force immediately before the coming into force of these Regulations;
 “the new definition of severely mentally impaired” means the definition which is substituted for the old definition of that expression by regulation 4 of these Regulations.
3 
Sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 4 of Schedule 1A to the Act( ) (conditions for the severely mentally impaired being exempt from liability for the personal community charge and the personal community water charge) shall be amended as follows:—
(a) condition (c) shall be deleted; and
(b) after condition (f), there shall be added the following conditions:—“
(g) he is entitled to an attendance allowance under section 35 of the Social Security Act 1975( );
(h) he is entitled to an increase of the weekly rate of his disablement pension under section 61 of that Act (increase where constant attendance needed);
(i) he is entitled to a constant attendance allowance under—
(i) article 14 of the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983( ), or
(ii) article 14 of the Naval, Military and Air Forces Etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions Order 1983( ) (including that provision as applied, with or without modifications, by any other instrument);
(j) he was, immediately before the coming into force of the Personal Community Charge (Exemption for the Severely Mentally Impaired) (Scotland) Regulations 1989, exempt from liability to pay the personal community charge and the personal community water charge under this paragraph. ”
4 
For sub-paragraph (3) of the said paragraph 4 (definition of severe mental impairment), there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph:—“
(3) A person is severely mentally impaired if he has severe impairment of his intelligence and social functioning from whatever cause which appears to be permanent. ”
5 
Any certificate given for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(c) of paragraph 4 of Schedule 1A to the Act before the date of coming into force of these Regulations to a person who, immediately before that date, was exempt from liability to pay the personal community charge and the personal community water charge under the said paragraph 4 shall continue to have effect for those purposes notwithstanding the substitution of another definition of severely mentally impaired by regulation 4 above.
6 
In respect of the financial year 1989–90, a person—
(a) who was not within the old definition of severely mentally impaired immediately before the coming into force of these Regulations;
(b) who is within the new definition of that expression and is exempt at any time on or after the coming into force of these Regulations and in that financial year; and
(c) who fulfilled any of the conditions which are now mentioned in paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 1A to the Act on any date in that financial year prior to the coming into force of these Regulations (irrespective of whether or not the condition concerned was then mentioned in that paragraph),shall be treated as having been exempt as from the earliest date in that financial year in which he fulfilled any of those conditions.
James Douglas-Hamilton
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office
St Andrew’s House,
Edinburgh
30th November 1989