Paragraph 1: MSP resettlement grant
465.Paragraph 1 makes provision for an MSP resettlement grant payable to MSPs who are not returned after an election under the 1998 Act. The grant is designed to assist with the cost of adjusting to non-parliamentary life.
466.Paragraph 1(1) requires that a grant is payable by the SPCB to an individual who has been but is no longer an MSP. To qualify for the grant an individual must have been an MSP when the Parliament was dissolved and not be returned as an MSP at the general election which followed that dissolution. If these circumstances are met, a grant is paid automatically. An MSP will qualify if they were an MSP immediately prior to a general election for the Scottish Parliament and either (i) does not stand for re-election, or (ii) stands for re-election and is not returned. No MSP resettlement grant is payable to an MSP who voluntarily resigns during the course of a parliamentary session, for example for business reasons.
467.The purpose of the grant is to assist the MSP with the costs of adjusting to non-parliamentary life and, therefore, a resettlement grant is only payable to the MSP. It cannot be paid to another person and paragraph 1(2) makes clear that the grant does not form part of an MSP’s moveable estate and cannot be paid to an MSP’s personal representatives in the event that the MSP dies before the relevant election.
