25.From 30 December 2002, the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (DAA(S)A 2002) replaced the diligence of poinding and warrant sales (the Scottish equivalent of distraint) with a new diligence of attachment.
26.Section 121B of the SSAA 1992 provides, following the granting of a summary warrant by the sheriff, for recovery of unpaid National Insurance contributions, which are not collected with tax, by:
	an attachment;
	an earnings arrestment; or
	an arrestment and action of furthcoming or sale.
27.In a similar vein to section 121A of the SSAA 1992 in relation to England and Wales, in Scotland section 121B of that Act requires that a 30 day period of notice must have elapsed before a summary warrant can be sought from the sheriff. The recovery of tax debt in Scotland is governed by section 63 of the TMA 1970 which stipulates a minimum period of 14 days which must have elapsed before a summary warrant may be sought. As a result, a similar misalignment to that described in relation to England and Wales at paragraphs 21 and 22 also occurs in Scotland.
28.The DAA(S)A 2002 does not impose a statutory period of notice to attachment. However, amongst the safeguards introduced by that Act is a requirement to provide the debtor with a “debt advice and information package”. This takes the form of a booklet “Dealing with Debt: finding your feet” which is published by the Scottish Executive. The booklet stipulates that the debtor has 14 days to pay following a “charge for payment”. In the absence of a charge to pay in summary warrant cases, the creditor is required to provide the debtor with a debt advice and information pack.
Background to the Act Recovery of unpaid contributions by summary warrant in Scotland Current position