Family Income Supplements Act 1970
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1970 c. 55 |
Family Income SupplementsAct 1970
1970 CHAPTER 55
An Act to provide for the payment of a new benefit for certain families with small incomes; and for purposes connected therewith.
[17th December 1970]
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:—
1 Family income supplement.
(1) For the purposes of this Act a family shall consist of the following members of a household—
(a ) one man or single woman engaged, and normally engaged, in remunerative full-time work; and
(b ) if the person mentioned in paragraph (a ) above is a man and the household includes a woman to whom he is married or who lives with him as his wife, that woman; and
(c ) the child or children whose requirements are provided for, in whole or in part, by the person or either of the persons mentioned in the preceding paragraphs.
(2) A benefit, to be known as a family income supplement, shall be paid (on a claim duly made thereto) for any family in Great Britain if the weekly amount of its resources, so far as taken into account for the purposes of this Act, falls short of the prescribed amount.
2 Prescribed amount.
(1) The prescribed amount for any family shall be—
(a ) if the family includes only one child, 15; and
(b ) if the family includes more than one child, 15 plus 2 for each additional child.
(2) Regulations may substitute higher amounts for those for the time being specified in this section.
3 Amount of family income supplement.
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the weekly rate of a family income supplement shall be one half of the difference between the amounts mentioned in section 1(2) of this Act but shall not in any case exceed 3.
(2) Where the weekly rate would be 0.10 or less the family income supplement shall not be payable.
(3) Where the weekly rate exceeds 0.10 but would not be a multiple of 0.10 it shall be increased to the nearest multiple.
(4) Regulations may vary the proportion and increase the amounts for the time being specified in this section.
4 Resources taken into account.
(1) The resources of a family taken into account for the purposes of this Act shall be the aggregate of the normal gross income of its members, excluding, except where regulations otherwise provide, the income of any child.
(2) For the purposes of this Act a person's normal gross income and the weekly amount thereof shall be calculated or estimated in such manner as regulations may provide; and regulations may, in particular, provide—
(a ) for making deductions in ascertaining the amount of any income;
(b ) for disregarding the whole or part of the income from any source specified in the regulations; and
(c ) for treating capital resources, other than such as may be specified in the regulations, and any income not consisting of money, as equivalent to gross income of such amount as may be so specified.
5 Claim to and payment of family income supplement.
(1) Any claim to a family income supplement shall be made to the Secretary of State and any family income supplement shall be paid by him.
(2) Where a family includes both a man and a woman the claim shall, except where regulations otherwise provide, be made by them jointly and any sums payable by way of the supplement shall be receivable by either of them; in any other case the claim shall be made and the sums shall be receivable by the man or woman included in the family.
6 Determination of right to, and amount of, family income supplement.
(1) Any question as to the right to or the amount of a family income supplement shall be referred to and determined by the Supplementary Benefits Commission, whose decision shall be final, subject to the provisions of this Act as to appeals.
(2) Except where regulations otherwise provide—
(a ) any such question shall be determined as at the date when the claim to the family income supplement is made; and
(b ) any family income supplement determined by the Commission to be payable shall be payable for a period of twenty-six weeks beginning with that date, and the rate at which it is payable shall not be affected by any change of circumstances during that period.
7 Appeals.
(1) A person claiming or in receipt of a family income supplement may appeal to the Appeal Tribunal against any determination of the Supplementary Benefits Commission under this Act or a refusal by the Commission to review such a determination (in a case where regulations provide for a review).
(2) On an appeal under this section the Appeal Tribunal may confirm the determination appealed against (or, if the appeal is against a refusal to review a determination, confirm the refusal) or substitute therefor any determination which the Commission could have made, and any determination of the Tribunal shall be final.
(3) The Appeal Tribunal for the purposes of this Act shall be such of the Tribunals constituted in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 3 to the Ministry of Social Security Act 1966 (constitution and proceedings of Appeal Tribunals) as under that Schedule has jurisdiction in the case in question.
8 Prevention of double payments and recovery of overpayments.
(1) Notwithstanding any change of circumstances during a period for which a family income supplement is payable for any family, no person who was included in that family at the time the claim to the supplement was made shall be treated during that period as included in any other family, except where regulations otherwise provide.
(2) Regulations may make provision for securing that no family income supplement is paid for any family during any period during which the requirements of any person included in the family are taken into account for the purposes of any benefit under the Ministry of Social Security Act 1966.
(3) Regulations may provide for the recovery of sums paid by way of family income supplement where it is found that the sums were not due and the persons by whom the sums were receivable cannot satisfy the Supplementary Benefits Commission or the Appeal Tribunal that they had disclosed all material facts.
(4) Where any amount is recoverable under regulations made by virtue of the preceding subsection it may, without prejudice to any other method of recovery, be recovered by deduction from any family income supplement or from any benefit under the National Insurance Acts 1965 to 1970, the National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Acts 1965 to 1969 or the Family Allowances Acts 1965 to 1969.
9 Family income supplement to be inalienable.
9. Every assignment of, or charge on, a family income supplement, and every agreement to assign or charge a family income supplement, shall be void; and on the bankruptcy or, in Scotland, on the...
To continue reading
Request your trial