Family Allowances Act 1965
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1965 c. 53 |
| Year | 1965 |
Family Allowances Act 1965
1965 CHAPTER 53
An Act to consolidate the Family Allowances Acts 1945 to 1964 and certain related enactments.
[5th August 1965]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Grant of family allowances
1 Direction for payment, and amount, of allowances.
1. Subject to the provisions of this Act, there shall be paid by the Minister for every family which includes two or more children, and for the benefit of the family as a whole, an allowance in respect of each child in the family other than the elder or eldest at the rate of eight shillings a week in respect of the first child other than the elder or eldest and ten shillings a week in respect of each other such child.
2 Meaning of ‘child’
(1) A person shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as a child—
(a ) during any period whilst he is under the upper limit of the compulsory school age; and
(b ) during any period before he attains the age of nineteen whilst he is undergoing full-time instruction in a school or is an apprentice; and
(c ) during any period before he attains the age of sixteen whilst he is by reason of illness or disability of mind or body incapacitated, and likely to remain for a prolonged period incapacitated, for regular employment.
(2) For the purposes of this section—
(a ) the upper limit of the compulsory school age means, subject to section 9 of the Education Act 1962 , the age that is for the time being that limit by virtue of section 35 of the Education Act 1944 together with any Order in Council made under that section;
(b ) a person who at any time attains the upper limit of the compulsory school age shall not be treated as being under that limit at any time thereafter, notwithstanding any subsequent change in that limit;
(c ) a person who becomes an apprentice after an interval of not more than one month from attaining the upper limit of the compulsory school age, or from ceasing to undergo full-time instruction in a school, shall be treated as having been an apprentice throughout the interval.
(3) In its application to Scotland, this section shall have effect as if for subsection (2)(a ) thereof there were substituted the following:—
‘(a ) the upper limit of the compulsory school age means in relation to any person the age at which under the law for the time being in force his parents cease to be under obligation to cause him to receive efficient education.’
3 Meaning of ‘family’
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, each of the following shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as constituting a family, that is to say—
(a ) a man and his wife living together, any child or children being issue of theirs, his or hers, and any child or children being maintained by them;
(b ) a man not having a wife or not living together with his wife, any child or children being issue of his, and any child or children being maintained by him; and
(c ) a woman not having a husband or not living together with her husband, any child or children being issue of hers, and any child or children being maintained by her.
(2) It shall be a condition of a child's being treated as included in a family as being issue of the man and his wife or one of them, of the man, or of the woman (according as the family falls within paragraph (a ), (b ) or (c ) of subsection (1) of this section) that the child is living with them, with him or with her, as the case may be, or, if not, that the cost of providing for the child is contributed to by them taken together, by him, or by her, as the case may be, at the rate of eight shillings a week or more.
(3) The provisions of the Schedule to this Act shall have effect as to the circumstances in which a man and his wife living together, or such a man or woman as is mentioned in subsection (1)(b ) or (c ) of this section, is to be treated as maintaining a child, and for determining as between parents and persons maintaining children, or as between one parent of a child and the other, in what family a child is to be treated as included.
4 Persons to whom allowances are to be paid.
(1) Allowances for any family shall belong—
(a ) in the case of the family of a man and his wife living together, to the wife, subject however to the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) of this section;
(b ) in the case of the family of such a man as is mentioned in section 3(1)(b ) of this Act, to him;
(c ) in the case of the family of such a woman as is mentioned in section 3(1)(c ) of this Act, to her.
(2) Sums to be paid on account of an allowance for the family of a man and his wife living together shall be receivable either by the man or by the wife.
(3) If in the case of a man and his wife living together a magistrates' court are satisfied, on a representation made to the court by way of complaint by either of them or by the Minister or the local authority, that one of them is not, as against the other, a proper recipient of allowances for their family, the court may order that sums on account of allowances for their family becoming receivable after the expiration of fourteen days from the date of the order shall, notwithstanding anything in subsection (2) of this section, be receivable, as between them, by the other only, and any order made under this subsection may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order of a magistrates' court on a representation made as aforesaid.
(4) It shall be the duty of a magistrates' court to send notification to the Minister of any order made by them under subsection (3) of this section as soon as may be after the order is made.
(5) The local authority for the purposes of subsection (3) of this section shall be—
(a ) in England and Wales, in the case of a county borough or London borough, the borough council, in the case of the City of London, the Common Council, and elsewhere the county council;
(b ) in Scotland, in the case of a large burgh within the meaning of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 , the town council, and elsewhere the county council, any burgh other than a large burgh being deemed to be included within the county in which it is situated.
(6) In the application of this section to Scotland, for any reference to a magistrates' court there shall be substituted a reference to the sheriff and subsection (3) shall have effect as if the words ‘by way of complaint’ were omitted.
Claims, duration of allowances, and payment
5 Claims and determination of questions.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and to section 48(2)(c ) of the Insurance Act (which provides that a claim for benefit under that Act may be treated as a claim, in the alternative, for a payment under this Act), and in accordance with regulations made under this Act, all claims for or in respect of allowances shall be made to the Minister.
(2) Part IV of the Insurance Act shall apply in relation to the determination of any question arising under this Act, being—
(a ) a question as to the right to an allowance in respect of any person for any family; or
(b ) a question which by virtue of the Schedule to this Act falls to be decided by the Minister in his discretion,
as it applies to the determination of questions as to the right to benefit under the Insurance Act or, as the case may be, to such a question as is mentioned in paragraph (b ) of this subsection arising under that Act, subject, in the case of such a question as is mentioned in paragraph (a ) of this subsection, to any modifications prescribed for the purposes of this subsection under section 73 of that Act.
6 Period for which allowances are to accrue.
(1) An allowance shall be for a continuous period ascertained under the subsequent provisions of this section, and any award of an allowance shall be made accordingly.
(2) Subject to the provisions of section 7 of this Act, an allowance awarded shall begin to accrue—
(a ) if the claim was made within six months from the date of entitlement, on the date of entitlement; or
(b ) if the claim was not made within six months from the date of entitlement, then at the beginning of the period of six months immediately preceding the date on which the claim was made.
In this subsection the expression ‘date of entitlement’ means, in relation to an allowance awarded in respect of any person as being a child included in any family, the date on which all the requirements of this Act and of any relevant regulations for the existence of a right to an allowance in respect of that person for that family became satisfied, or, if when the award was made those requirements had become satisfied more than once, the date on which they last became satisfied.
(3) An allowance awarded in respect of any person as being a child included in the family of a man and his wife shall be awarded not only for their family but also, with effect after the death of either of them whilst they are living together, for any family for the time being of the survivor, or of the survivor and a spouse of the survivor.
(4) Subject to the provisions of section 7 of this Act, an allowance awarded in respect of any person shall terminate when any of the requirements of this Act or of any relevant regulations for the existence of a right to an allowance in respect of that person ceases to be satisfied, or that person is no longer included in a family for which the...
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