Working as a member of the devolved Scottish Tribunals and interaction with ESA

Interesting JR - Victoria Reid for Judicial Review [2022] ScotCS CSOH 56 seeking to reduce minimum monthly attendance requirements imposed by Scottish Tribunal system on lay members in order for the claimant to protect her ESA under exempt work rules -

‘… there is an exemption (reg 37(2) ESA Regs 2013 / reg 40(2) ESA 2008 Regs) which allows members of English and UK tribunals to work for one day (or two half days) a week while in receipt of ESA ... There is no equivalent provision [to the exemption for English/UK tribunal members] for general members of the First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal of the devolved Scottish Tribunals … We do not believe that there is any objective justification for this difference in treatment, and are of the view that the omission of devolved Tribunal members may well have been an oversight… ‘

Claim was ultimately unsuccessful but the court notes that after a meeting between Scottish and UK officials they agreed there was an omission and the UK Government confirmed a willingness to consider a formal request to amend the regulations.