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R2R decision makers and the Scottish question
R2R decisions are made in Wick. If Scotland decides on independence, can’‘t have English DWP having decicions made in a foreign country so they will have to be made redundant.
If they came down to England and applied for JSA would they have to pass the Habitual Resedence Test ?... but what would the immigration status be…. apparently not European… would they get the same status as Norwegans… not in EU but treated the same anyway… or would they become part of the Common travel area like Ireland.
Lets just start a youth unemployment scheme re-building Hadrian Wall.
Would they claim refugee status because of a risk of discrimination having previously been employed by DWP?
It’s a good question actually.
I had thought Scotland would be treated much like Ireland- part of the common travel area- but of course, unless Scotland joins the EU, it gets complicated. I suppose in that case the Norway parallel is closer (or the Isle of Man? That’s a bit of a weird one too).
But does Wick still exist? (as it were). I was told by someone at the DWP districts complaint team recently that the Wick office is no more (or that they ain’t making RTR decisions any more anyway). In which case, the staff may have already disbursed by now.
In which case, the staff may have already disbursed by now.
A bit early for them to be claiming asylum, given that Scotland isn’t a foreign country quite yet.
Although they do things differently….... ;)
It is actually a serious point, one of many which will have to be dealt with in negotiations if and when there is a Yes vote. If Scotland ends up outside the EU or even the EEA, you would think that it would be in the interests of both Scotland and the remainder of the UK to agree a bilateral common travel area arrangement - we don’t want to have a situation where pepole need a visa to visit their relatives or even to go to work. The business community in both countries would not stand for anything less. And all those Rangers and Celtic fans who come across from Northern Ireland at the weekends would be hacked off if they got turned back by Scottish immigration officers at Stranraer. So I don’t think there is any prospect whatsoever of Scotland ending up like a conventional non-EEA country vis-a-vis the UK.
The benefits hab res/R2R test (assuming such a thing is retained by Scotland and/or the UK) could be tweaked to say that the claimant needs to be habitually resident in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man, thus gaining Scots the same privileged status currently accorded to CI/IoM. In Scotland the words might not appear in that order but a similar rule could apply if Scotland wants to control benefits for non-Scots in the same way the UK currently does.
There, serious answer because I couldn’t think of anything witty to say.