Photographs on ballot papers: piloting

Section 25     Photographs on ballot papers: piloting

50.          This section amends section 5 of the Scottish Local Government (Elections) Act 2002 so that the use of photographs of candidates on ballot papers can be piloted at local government elections. Orders made under section 5 of the 2002 Act must make provision for and in connection with the implementation of the proposed scheme as is considered appropriate. They may include provisions which modify or disapply any enactment. Such orders are not subject to Parliamentary procedure.

Encouraging electoral participation

Section 26     Encouraging electoral participation

51.          Section 26(1) gives returning officers powers to encourage participation at local government elections. Subsection (2) provides that returning officers must have regard to any guidance issued by Scottish Ministers for this purpose. Subsection (3) allows Ministers to reimburse expenditure incurred by returning officers but subsection (4) requires that the total amount must not exceed a fixed sum which will be set out in regulations.

Miscellaneous

Section 27     Tendered votes in certain circumstances

52.          Subsection (1) inserts a new subsection (6B) into section 61 of the 1983 Act, which relates to certain voting offences.

53.     The new provision excepts from the scope of voting offences an elector who discovers, upon attending his polling station, that he has without his knowledge been included on the list of postal voters or postal proxy voters who may not vote in person at a polling station. It will be possible for such a voter to be issued with a tendered ballot paper at a polling station before the close of voting where the deadline for requesting a replacement postal ballot paper has expired.

54.          The elector will be allowed to mark a tendered ballot paper if their answer satisfies the presiding officer that they have lost or not received their postal ballot paper. A person who votes at a polling station when entitled to vote by post is not guilty of a voting offence if the vote cast is a tendered ballot paper. Similarly, a person who votes in person as a proxy for another elector when entitled to vote as a postal proxy, is not committing an offence when voting by a tendered ballot paper.

55.          Subsection (2) makes two amendments to Schedule 4 of the Representation of the People Act 2000. The insertion of paragraph 2(6B) of the Schedule removes the prohibition on absent voters voting at a polling station. The effect is that paragraph 2 does not apply to voters casting a tendered ballot paper in the circumstances referred to above. Similarly, the insertion of paragraph 7(14) means that paragraph 7 of Schedule 4 does not prohibit postal proxies casting a tendered vote at a polling station in the circumstances referred to above.

Section 28     Election campaign and proceedings: miscellaneous amendments

56.          This section makes a minor amendment to section 81 of the 1983 Act dealing with the return as to election expenses by providing that any reference to the Electoral Commission is to be read as if it were a reference to the Scottish Ministers (subsection (1)). Subsection (1) is consequential on subsection (2) in that it makes a further modification of one of the amendments which is extended to Scottish local government elections by subsection (2).

57.     The paragraphs in Schedules 18 and 22 to the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 which are now applied to local government elections in Scotland by virtue of subsections (2) and (3) update provisions in the 1983 Act or omit those that are out of date and no longer serve a useful purpose. The Schedule 18 and 22 provisions principally amend sections in Part V of the 2000 Act, dealing with control of campaign expenditure. Amendments are made to sections, 73 (payment of expenses through election agent), 74 (candidate's personal expenses), a new section 74A (expenses incurred otherwise than for election purposes) is inserted, 78 (time for sending in and paying claims), 81 (return as to election expenses), 82 (declarations as to election expenses), 89(1) (inspection of returns and declarations for purposes of section 88), and 90 (election expenses where agent not required). Sections 72 (campaign expenditure), parts of 79(3) (limits on campaign expenditure), parts of 81 (return as to election expenses), 82(4) (person before whom declaration as to election expenses may be made), 101 - 105 (dealing with referendums) and 108 (Designation of organisations to whom assistance is available) are deleted.

Section 29     Details to appear on election publications

57.          This section repeals section 110 of the 1983 Act, so far as it applies to Scottish local government elections, covering the details to appear on election material and replaces it with a new section 110A. The new section 110A has the effect of introducing for local government elections in Scotland the amendment made by paragraph 14 of Schedule 18 to the 2000 Act. It widens the scope of the original section 110 by extending whose details are to be provided on the election publication and does this by replacing the term "publisher" with "promoter" and by providing that the name and address of any person on behalf of whom the material is being published (and who is not the promoter) are to be provided on the election publication.

Section 30     Repeal of reference to Maundy Thursday

58.          This section removes Maundy Thursday from the list of days that are to be disregarded for the purposes of calculating the timetable for local government elections.

Section 31     Translations etc. of certain documents

59.          This section inserts a new section 199C of the 1983 Act which requires returning officers at Scottish local government elections and their staff, if they consider it appropriate, to make election documents (other than a nomination paper or ballot paper), which are displayed or given to voters, available in graphical format, Braille, languages other than English or other means. If appropriate, the information contained in those documents must also be made available in an audio format.

Section 32     Certain voters entitled to vote in person

60.          This section amends Schedule 4 to the Representation of the People Act 2000 which deals with absent voting. The change extends the right to vote in person at local government elections in Scotland, rather than by post or proxy, to people detained under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.

Section 33     Power to make regulations as to preparation of special lists and records etc.

61.          This section gives Scottish Ministers a power to make regulations on the procedures for drawing up special lists and records in connection with the conduct of a local government election. This is to put beyond doubt that Ministers have a power to make provisions regarding the procedure to be followed in the preparation of any special lists relating to absent voting. Regulations made under this power will attract negative resolution procedure.

Section 34     Miscellaneous amendments

62.          This section makes a number of minor amendments to the 1983 Act. Subsection (1)(a) amends the offence provision in section 65 (tampering with nomination papers, ballot papers etc.), insofar as it applies in relation to a local government election in Scotland, to add a reference to the new form of postal voting statement which will be used in place of the current declaration of identity. Subsection (1)(b) amends section 66 (requirement of secrecy of those persons attending the poll and counting of votes) and adds a reference to a unique identifying mark used on the back of any ballot paper to those items about which information is not to be communicated. Subsection (1A) removes the restriction in sections 160(5A) and (5B) to ensure that the disqualification provisions in section 160 are triggered for the office of councillor in Scotland by a conviction of corrupt or illegal practice at a reserved election.

63.          Subsection (2) amends section 173A (incapacity to hold public or judicial office in Scotland) and removes the restriction imposed by paragraph 104 of Schedule 1 to the UK Electoral Administration Act. This has the effect of extending to the office of councillor for a local government area in Scotland the provisions of section 173A which set out that a person convicted of a corrupt practice is prevented from holding public or judicial office in Scotland for a period of five years starting from the date of his conviction or, if holding such office, shall vacate it from that date. Subsection (3) amends Schedule 2 of the 1983 Act (provisions which may be contained in regulations as to registration etc.) and inserts a new paragraph 12A which provides that regulations made in relation to local government elections in Scotland may also make provision authorising the cancellation or removal of ballot papers at such an election in any prescribed circumstances.

64.          The UK Electoral Administration Act amends paragraph 3(3)(b) of Schedule 4 to the Representation of the People Act 2000 which deals with absent voting. The change replaces the words "physical incapacity" with "disability" to ensure that the link between mental incapacity and legal capacity is removed in relation to a person who applies to vote by proxy. Subsection (4) removes the restriction of the extent of the change so that it now extends to local government elections in Scotland.

65.          Ministers have a power in section 3(1) of the 2004 Act to make an order which, in addition to updating the local government election rules, will also make provision about the detail of the STV system to be used in the 2007 local government elections. That order will be subject to affirmative procedure, as provided for in section 16(5) of the 2004 Act. Subsection 25(5) makes clear that not every order made under section 3(1) of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 need include provisions set out in section 3(2) (which deals with the counting of votes.) Where the order does not include such provision, it will be subject to negative procedure. Where the order does include provisions in section 3(2), it will continue to be subject to affirmative procedure.

General

Section 35     Part 1: minor and consequential modifications

66.          This section inserts schedule 2 which makes minor and consequential amendments to existing legislation as a result of changes made by the Act.

Section 36     Interpretation of Part 1

67.          The section deals with the interpretation of terms used in Part 1.

68.          Subsection (3)(a) ensures that the term "enactment" carries the same meaning as it would normally have in an Act of the Scottish Parliament. Subsection (3)(b) ensures that the meaning of "prescribed" in section 7 is as given in section 7(9) of this Act. These provisions are inserted as the more general interpretation provisions set out in section 36(2) would otherwise give these terms the same meaning as in the Representation of the People Act 1983.

PART 2: REGISTRATION SERVICES

Introduction

69.          Part 2 of the Act makes provision about the registration of births, death, marriages and civil partnerships etc. in Scotland.

70.          Registration services in Scotland are provided by a partnership of the Registrar General for Scotland's department - the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), which is part of the devolved Scottish Administration - and the 32 local councils. Local registrars are employees of the local authorities, which are responsible for pay and conditions and for accommodation, but their registration work is governed by instructions and guidelines set by the Registrar General within the existing legislative framework.

71.          The registration of births, deaths and marriages in Scotland operates under the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965 - "the 1965 Act". Arrangements for marriage preliminaries and the solemnisation of civil marriages are governed by the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977. Arrangements for civil partnership preliminaries and the registration of civil partnerships are governed by the Civil Partnership Act 2004. The Act does not change that basic framework.

72.          Provisions of Part 2 of the Act were brought into force on 1st October 2006 and 1st January 2007 by the Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional Provision) Order 2006 (S.S.I. 2006/469), with transitional provision for marriage notices, as described below. The commencement of the provisions of Part 2 of the Act and its implementation is described below as it stood at the date of publication of these Notes. The fees set by the Registrar General for registration services generally were amended and consolidated, using various powers amended and created by the Act, in the Registration Services (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (S.S.I. 2006/575).

Reorganisation of local registration services

Section 37     Registration districts and authorities

73.          Prior to the Act there were 230 Registration Districts (RDs) in Scotland. The RDs sometimes matched the area covered by one of the 32 local councils (a large example was the City of Glasgow; a smaller one Clackmannanshire). More often, the local council was responsible for more than one RD. In some cases, for historical reasons, a single RD overlapped a council boundary and included the territory of 2 or more councils. It was not always obvious to the citizen where the birth of a baby should be registered or in which RD the death of a relative had occurred. Subsection (2) therefore amends the 1965 Act by providing that each local authority area is a registration district and that the relevant local authority is the local registration authority. Subsection (3) repeals the current provision for a local authority or local authorities to alter the boundaries of their registration districts - these will simply be the local authority area. Subsections (4) to (6) make changes to the administrative provisions on senior and district registrars and other staff, registration offices and area repositories in the 1965 Act which are consequential on the changes in subsections (2) and (3). Section 37 came into force on 1st January 2007.

Section 38     Registration offices: opening times

74.          Under section 8(3) of the 1965 Act, all the registration offices in an RD had to have the same hours of business. This made it more difficult for councils to run local offices, because they had to be open throughout normal working hours even if there was little demand. The problem was more acute when the entire council area was a single RD. Section 38 therefore amends the 1965 Act to allow the local registration authority to set different opening hours for different registration offices, subject to the approval of the Registrar General. Section 38 came into force on 1st January 2007.

Registration of births and deaths

Section 39     Registration of births

75.          Prior to the Act, a family had the option of registering a birth in the RD where the birth occurred or - if this was different - in the RD where the mother was usually resident. This option was important where a mother was well enough to take her new baby back to her home in another area after only a day or so in hospital, perhaps before the baby's name was decided on. The 2 district registrars made appropriate cross-indexing arrangements, so that the birth-entry could readily be found. Computer links now allow this option to be extended to allow the birth to be registered in any Scottish RD, which is more convenient in today's highly mobile society. Subsection (2) therefore amends the 1965 Act to specify that every child born in Scotland must be registered in the birth or still-birth registers to be kept by district registrars and dispenses with the restrictions on the choice of RD in which the birth must be registered.

76.          Subsection (3) amends section 14 of the 1965 Act, by removing the requirement that a person registering the birth must attend personally at the registration office and sign the register in the presence of the registrar. This paves the way for registration of births to be initiated electronically. Birth or death registration by internet could be more convenient to the family than the present face-to-face interview with the registrar. Births are not required to be registered electronically, because many people value the help of the registrar. But personal attendance will no longer be obligatory - for electronic registration which is not face to face the opportunity for fraud will be reduced by taking advantage of advances in NHS information services, which would allow details of births and deaths to be independently corroborated before the registration of the event was finalised.

77.          Subsection (4) amends section 15 of the 1965 Act, which concerns abandoned infant children, to reflect the changes described in paragraphs 76 and 77. Subsection (5) amends the registrar's power under section 16 of the 1965 Act to obtain information concerning a birth, to reflect the same changes.

78.          Subsection (6) adds 2 new sections to the 1965 Act. Both are designed to pave the way for electronic registration of birth. The first obliges NHS Health Boards to provide to the Registrar General information about every birth in their area - and for the Registrar General to make these details available to the district registrars. The second requires the district registrar, once corroborative information has been received from the health service, to complete the registration of a birth which has been initiated electronically as described in paragraph 77 above.

79.          Section 17 of the 1965 Act prohibits registration more than 3 months after the birth without the written authority of the Registrar General. Subsection (7) amends that section to enable the Registrar General to authorise electronically the late registration of a birth. Subsection (8) amends section 18 of the 1965 Act, which provides for the registration of children born to unmarried parents, in order to reflect the changes described in paragraphs 76 and 77.

80.          Section 39 came into operation on 1st January 2007 aside from its provisions enabling the completion of an electronic birth registration as described in paragraph 77 above. S.S.I. 2006/597 preserved the existing law pending the implementation of those provisions.

Section 40     Registration of still-births

81.          Section 21 of the 1965 Act makes provision for where a still-birth may be registered (applying, unless otherwise provided for, the same rules as for a birth - as described in paragraph 76 above). It also provides for the certification of a still-birth and for the certification of registration of a still-birth. Section 40 makes minor amendments to section 21 including for documents to be attested, rather than signed, to pave the way for electronic registration of still-births. It came into force on 1st January 2007, except in relation to electronic registration as described in paragraph 81 above.

Section 41     Re-registration of births

82.          Section 41 amends sections 20 and 54 of the 1965 Act. Section 20 allows the Registrar General to authorise the re-registration of a birth of any person, if:

(a)     the entry relating to him or her in the register of births is affected by any matter contained in the Register of Corrections Etc. respecting his or her status or parentage or non-parentage, or

(b)     the entry relating to him or her in the register of births has been so made as to imply that he or she was found exposed, or

(c)     the entry relating to him or her in the register of births has been so made as to imply that his or her parents were not then married to one another and the parents have subsequently married one another.

83.          Section 41 allows registrars, in certain circumstances, to handle applications for the re-registration of births themselves, in addition to the Registrar General. It does so by empowering the Registrar General to prescribe cases or classes of case where a birth may be re-registered (in regulations made under section 54 of the 1965 Act, which are subject to negative resolution procedure in the Scottish Parliament).

84.          The Registrar General has used this power to make the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Re-registration) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (S.S.I. 2007/54). Those Regulations should be looked at for their full details (along with the consequential amendments made by S.S.I. 2007/52), but from 1st March 2007 local registrars can re-register a birth where:

• paternity has been shown in the Register of Corrections Etc., the applicant is the child's mother who has parental responsibilities and is also the qualified informant;

• the parents have subsequently married, paternity has previously been acknowledged by statutory declaration or a court decree and the child's father's details are already recorded;

• the child has died, details are missing from the child's birth entry and the responsible parent wants to include either the father's details or the parents' marriage; or

• the child is still-born and the parents apply to re-register the child's still-birth to include either the father's details or the parents' subsequent marriage.

Section 42     Registration of deaths

85.          Subsections (2) to (3) and (5) to (7) amend the 1965 Act provisions about the registration of deaths, in the same way that section 39(2) to (7) amends the provisions on the registration of births - see paragraphs 76, 77, 79 and 80 above.

86.          Subsection (4) reflects the creation of a single registration district for each local authority area and paves the way for electronic registration by making minor amendments to section 24 of the 1965 Act, which provides for a medical certificate of cause of death.

87.          Section 27 of the 1965 Act provides for a free certificate of registration of death for use by the person having charge of the place of interment or cremation. It also makes provision for the person having charge of the place of interment to notify the registrar where a burial has taken place without a certificate of registration of death. Subsection (8) makes minor consequential amendments to existing provisions as a result of the provisions in section 42 that enable a death to be registered anywhere in Scotland.

88.          Section 42 came into operation on 1st January 2007, except in relation to electronic registration as described for birth registration at paragraph 80 above.

Registration information

Section 43     Registers kept by district registrars

89.          Since 1855, identical "master copies" of every register of births, deaths and marriages have been held locally and in Edinburgh. GROS, having in the 1990s completed the electronic indexing of all the registers, has recently completed a project to provide a digital image of every register page, linked to the searchable electronic indexes. This gives registrars throughout Scotland access through a secure computer network to the indexes and to the digital image of any register page. The paper register, however, remains the authoritative source. Subsection (2) enables the Registrar General to determine that the registers are to be kept in electronic rather than in paper form. All of section 43 came into force on 1st October 2006.

90.          To ensure the accuracy of register entries, the registers are inspected by "District Examiners" nominated by the Registrar General under section 34 of the 1965 Act. The District Examiner visits each registration district once per year, and checks the previous year's register entries. Subsection (3) substitutes a new section 34 which allows the District Examiner to examine the electronic version of the register continuously throughout the year instead of by an annual visit - in order to identify and correct any errors more swiftly. The Examiner continues to check entries in the Register of Corrections Etc., but there is no need for those entries to be sent back to the Registrar General. Instead a report is sent of any circumstances arising from the examination to which the Registrar General's attention should be drawn.

91.          Subsection (4) repeals section 35 of the 1965 Act, which allows the Registrar General to copy the paper registers once submitted to him. This is unnecessary when the electronic register comes into force. Subsection (5) is consequential.

92.          Subsection (6) adjusts the District Examiner's power to correct errors in the registers, to reflect the introduction of electronic registers.

Section 44     Indexing of registers and provision of registration information

93.          This section takes advantage of the flexibility of electronically-available registration information to provide for new registration services.

94.          Subsection (2) repeals section 19 of the 1965 Act, which is superseded by new section 39E of the 1965 Act (added by section 44(5) of the Act - see paragraph 102 below). Subsection (3) substitutes a new section 37 of the 1965 Act. This section restates the powers for a district registrar to issue, on payment of a fee prescribed by regulations, an extract of an entry in the registers currently operated by the registrar. The new section is similar to the existing section 37 of the 1965 Act, except that the requirement on district registrars to keep and search indexes of the current registers is no longer required because district registrars can also use section 39D of the 1965 Act (added by section 44(5) of the Act - see paragraph 101 below). Subsection (2) also ensures that the current statutory restrictions on access to the register of still-births are retained.

95.          Subsection (4) amends section 38 of the 1965 Act, to delete a requirement on the Registrar General to keep alphabetical indexes in the General Register Office - which is redundant with the introduction of electronic indexes.

96.          Subsection (5) replaces sections 39 and 40 of the 1965 Act with 5 new sections. Section 39 is concerned with the process of producing paper extracts from the register, which is redundant now that extracts are produced electronically, and section 40 with the issuing of abbreviated birth certificates (which is superseded by new section 39E).

97.          New section 39A allows the Registrar General, for a fee to be prescribed by regulations, to give official notification of a birth, death, marriage or change of name to nominated private-sector bodies (insurance firms, banks, solicitors, utility firms etc). This is a new service. It will require to be triggered by a qualified informant (in the case of a birth or death), a party to a marriage or, in the case of a change of name, the person concerned or (for a child) a person who has parental responsibilities. The request for this service will most likely be made to the district registrar when registering a birth or death or when submitting notice of intention to marry.

98.          New section 39B allows third parties to ask the Registrar General to notify them of the death of a person if and when it occurs in Scotland, in return for a fee to be prescribed by regulations. Such requests might be made individually or relate to batches of names. This will enable for instance pensions or insurance firms to check whether pensioners or annuitants had died. The provision makes the existing "particular search" process, which is open to any member of the public on payment of a prescribed fee, more automatic.

99.          New section 39C authorises the operation of electronic arrangements to provide information to district registrars. It requires the Registrar General to provide to district registrars throughout Scotland the images of the main Scottish register entries (including divorce records, pre-1855 parish registers not currently available to them and pre-1965 register entries), together with an alphabetical index. It gives the Registrar General flexibility to provide copies in the way which best suits the needs of the area concerned - on paper or in digitised form.

100.     New section 39D similarly updates the powers under which district registrars search the indexes and issue extracts of events in return for payment of a fee. Any correction must also be taken into account in issuing such a copy extract. It also paves the way for local authorities to provide family history research centres.

101.     New section 39E makes provision for issuing abbreviated extracts, replacing section 40 of the 1965 Act. In addition, it introduces an abbreviated extract from the death register. The 1965 Act did not allow the issue of an abbreviated extract from the death register, as can be issued for births under section 19 of that Act. A paper extract from the register of deaths shows the full entry on the page of the public register, omitting nothing. In some circumstances, the deceased's executors may wish to have an official document attesting to the fact and date of the death, but leaving out (possibly embarrassing) details of the cause of death. The new abbreviated extract from the death register could be used for purposes such as closing a bank account where the bank manager has no need to know the cause of death of the account-holder. The new section 39E was implemented by regulations 3 to 5 of S.S.I. 2006/598 with effect from 1st January 2007 and by S.S.I. 2007/52.

102.     Subsection (6) replaces section 41 of the 1965 Act (which deals with the authentication of extracts and their admissibility as evidence) with 2 new sections 41 and 41A. The changes are consequential on the repeal of section 39 and on the new sections 39A and 39B. S.S.I. 2006/597 re-prescribed under these powers the existing law for the form and authentication requirements for extracts of register entries. Subsection (7) makes a similar consequential change to section 44 of the 1965 Act, removing wording superseded by new section 39E. Subsection (8) similarly amends section 53 of the 1965 Act, removing words superseded by the replacement of section 41.

103.     Section 44 was brought into force on 1st October 2006 and 1st January 2007 by S.S.I. 2006/469 except for subsection (5) for the purpose of adding the new section 39A to the 1965 Act (although its regulation-making powers were commenced).

Section 45     Correction of errors in registers

104.     Under section 42(2) of the 1965 Act a registrar was able to correct any clerical errors in entries in the birth and death registers, from the faulty transcription of particulars provided by an informant. The registrar was also able to correct other errors that are prescribed by the Registrar General. If the error was discovered after the entry in the registers has been signed, then the error could still be corrected - but only within 7 days and in the presence of the informant. A similar provision in section 42(3) related to the correction of errors in the marriage register due to faulty transcription of particulars from a Marriage Schedule. The correction could be made within one month of the date of registration, provided that no extract containing the information has been issued.

105.     These rules placed unrealistic prohibitions on the registrars and made it inconvenient for the informant who had to go to the registration office simply to witness the correction of what could be a trivial error (e.g. "McKenzie" entered as "MacKenzie"). Subsection (2) allows registrars to correct errors of transcription or other prescribed errors without the informant being present or without the restriction, in relation to marriages, for there to have been no extract issued. In cases where a more significant error is discovered, the other provisions in section 42 of the 1965 Act continue to apply.

106.     Subsection (3) provides for the correction of an error in the pre-1855 registers kept by individual parishes. It allows the Registrar General to take into account suitable electronic evidence that an error has been made, as well as written evidence.

107.     Section 45 came into force and was implemented by regulations 7 and 8 of S.S.I. 2006/598 with effect from 1st January 2007.

Section 46      Recording change of name or surname

108.     Section 43(3)(a) of the 1965 Act previously allowed the registration of a new baptismal name if, within 12 months of the birth, the child's name were changed, or given, in baptism. That had the unintended side effect of allowing a mother or father to change a child's name through baptism without the knowledge or agreement of the other parent. This had the effect of allowing the ceremony of baptism to take precedence over parental responsibilities in a way which is incompatible with the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. Section 46(a) makes amendments to section 43(3) which mean that only persons who have parental responsibilities for a child may apply to the Registrar General to change the name of the child.

109.     Section 46(b) amends section 43 of the 1965 Act to remove the 2 year time limit which applied to an official change of name (forenames and/or surname). Previously, during that 2 year period the new name had to be in use. This means that it is now possible for anyone whose birth has been registered in Scotland to apply immediately to the Registrar General to record a change of forename or surname. Any new birth certificate, issued after the change will show the new name, together with the former name, for purposes of continuity.

110.     Section 46 came into force and was implemented by regulation 6 of S.S.I. 2006/598 with effect from 1st January 2007.