January 2019

Parents Clubs Scotland

26th January 2019 0 comments

The Scottish Government have launched their new Parents Club Scotland website, to help support families raising young children in Scotland and to promote child and parental welfare.

Designed to take a holistic approach to family well-being, Parents Club Scotland aims to provide information on new Scottish Government benefits, including the Baby Box Scheme and the newly launched Pregnancy and Baby Payment Grants.

It also contains information on how to ensure your children are receiving a healthy diet and offers, day to day, practical tips on how to entertain your children and how to help get them to sleep.

Financial Health Checks

However, the site is not all about children, it is also about parents and recognising they need information, advice and support.

To that end, Parents Club Scotland is also seeking to promote uptake of the new Scottish Financial Health Check, which the Scottish Government has launched with Citizen Advice Scotland.

The new Financial Health Checks will support parents by providing them with benefit and budgeting advice and showing them how to access their credit reports, whilst also providing them with holistic advice on all their options when dealing with problem debts, including providing information on

For more information on Parents Club Scotland, visit the site here, or to get a Financial Health Check call 0800 085 7145. Alternatively, browse Advice Scotland for more information.

Prescription Begins Running on Default

25th January 2019 4 comments

In light of the decision of the Court of Appeal in the English case of Doyle v PRA Group UK Limited (2019 EWCA Civ 12), I am grateful for Paul Tilley of Wannops LLP for sharing a decision of the Scottish Sheriff Appeals court that was decided in October 2018, and has not previously been published on the Scottish Courts Website.

The decision, PRA Group Ltd v MacPherson, considered the same point considered in Doyle, advanced by the PRA Group in the Court of Appeal, and that is when does prescription begins running in a consumer credit agreement?

The decision by Sheriff Principal Turnbull found it began running, not on breach of the agreement, but when a default notice was served.

MacPherson, it is understood, was relied upon by the PRA Group in the Doyle case.

Parliamentary Committee Recommends against Standard Financial Statement

14th January 2019 0 comments

The Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Energy and Fair Work’s Committee have now released their Report into the Scottish Government’s draft Common Financial Tool Regulations.

The recommendations of the Committee are that the Scottish Government should not re-lay the Regulations until there has been:

A full review of the use of the Common Financial Tool, including
Engagement with the advice sector and debtors; and
Research into what is a reasonable standard of living.

The full report can be found here.

Background to Common Financial Tool

The Common Financial Tool is the mechanism with which it is decided how much Scottish consumers should pay towards their debts in Bankruptcies, Protected Trust Deeds and the Debt Arrangement Scheme.

They have been controversial and concerns have been raised they may not allow Scots to sustain a reasonable standard of living, which the Scottish Government has disputed. For more information on the background to the dispute read Standard Financial Statement: Is it fit for purpose?

Regulations withdrawn

The Scottish Government initially laid the regulations to adopt the Standard Financial Statement in June 2018, but these were withdrawn after the Parliamentary summer recess because of timing issues.

The regulations were then re-laid, but after evidence was given by various organisations, including money advisers, the regulations were withdrawn again, although the Minister did indicate in a letter to stakeholders he hoped to relay the regulations so they could commence by April 2019.

Evidence provided by Money Advice Scotland, R3, The Money Advice Service and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Evidence provided by Aberdeen Council, East Renfrewshire Council, Inverclyde Council and WRI Associates.

Evidence provided by the Accountant in Bankruptcy and the Minister, Jamie Hepburn.

However, after the Parliamentary Committee discussed the matter in private on the 8th January, they are now recommending the adoption of the Standard Financial Statement be delayed for at least a year.

To read the Committee’s letter to the Minister dated the 10th January 2019, see here.

To see all the evidence and submissions relating to the Common Financial Tool, see the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee page on it here.