07 June 2019
It has been announced that Part 1 of the Damages (Investment Returns and Periodical Payments) (Scotland) Act 2019 will come into force on 1 July 2019. This will trigger a 90 day period during which the UK Government Actuary’s Department must review and report to the Scottish Ministers on the new Discount Rate for Scotland. Accordingly, the deadline for the recommendation on the new rate is 29 September 2019.
Once the discount rate recommendation has been made, the report will be presented to the Scottish Parliament “as soon as practicable” and the new rate would come into force the following day.
We should, therefore, have a finalised discount rate in Scotland by 1st October 2019 at the latest.
Part 2 of the Act, which introduces Periodical Payments in Scotland, will come into force at a later (as yet unconfirmed) date after completion of new Rules of Court.
The Act can be found here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2019/4/contents/enacted
If you require more information, please do not hesitate to contact:
Catherine Currie, Partner, E: ccr@bto.co.uk