Under the provisions of a Commencement Order made by the Scottish Parliament on 15 September, the new Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) will take effect from 30 November 2004. As described in our newsletter of 20 August 2004, employees with debts may serve on their employer a payment mandate that compels the employer to make deductions from the employee's earnings towards the settlement of the debts.

Although the skeleton rules for the scheme are set out in the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002, there are many outstanding issues that have not been resolved. For example, does an England-based employer have to comply if a Scotland-based employee presents a payment mandate? Can a Scottish court penalise an English employer for not making the deductions? The IPPM has recently been in discussion over many such issues with the Scottish Justice Department. In any event, the Commencement Order allows Scottish Ministers to make further Regulations from 24 September onwards in order to define the scheme more precisely.

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Sources:
www.scotland-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2004/20040401.htm