Old Age Pensions Act 1936
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Old Age Pensions Act, 1936.
(26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8) CHAPTER 31.
An Act to consolidate the enactments relating tonon-contributory Old Age Pensions.
[14th July 1936]
B E it enacted by the King'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 Right to receive old age pension.
(1) Every person in whose case the conditions laid down by this Act for the receipt of an old age pension (in this Act referred to as statutory conditions) are fulfilled, shall be entitled to receive such a pension under this Act so long as those conditions continue to be fulfilled, and so long as he is not disqualified under this Act for the receipt of the pension.
(2) An old age pension under this Act shall be at the rate set forth in the First Schedule to this Act.
(3) The sums required for the payment of old age pensions under this Act shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.
(4) The receipt of an old age pension under this Act shall not deprive the pensioner of any franchise, right, or privilege, or subject him to any disability.
2 Statutory conditions for receipt of old age pension.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the statutory conditions for the receipt of an old age pension by any person are—
(a ) the person shall have attained the age of seventy, or, in the case of a blind person, the age of fifty;
(b ) the person shall satisfy the pension authorities that for at least ten years up to the date of the receipt of any sum on account of a pension he has been a British subject, and that he has been resident in the United Kingdom, if he is a natural born British subject, for an aggregate period of not less than twelve years since attaining the age of fifty years, or, in the case of a blind person, thirty years, and, if he is not a natural born British subject, for an aggregate period of twenty years;
(c ) the person shall satisfy the pension authorities that his yearly means as calculated in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act, after deducting therefrom such part, if any, thereof, but not exceeding in any case thirty-nine pounds, as is derived from any source other than earnings, do not exceed forty-nine pounds, seventeen shillings and sixpence.
(2) For the purpose of computing residence in the United Kingdom under paragraph (b ) of subsection (1) of this section—
(a ) any periods spent abroad in any service under the Crown, the remuneration for which is paid out of moneys provided by Parliament, or as the wife or servant of a person in any such service so remunerated;
(b ) any periods spent in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man by a person born in the United Kingdom;
(c ) any periods spent abroad by any person during which that person has maintained or assisted in maintaining any dependant in the United Kingdom;
(d ) any periods of absence spent in service on board a vessel registered in the United Kingdom by a person who before his absence on that service was living in the United Kingdom;
(e ) any periods of temporary absence not exceeding three months in duration at any one time; and
(f ) any periods spent in any part of Ireland before the establishment of the Irish Free State;
shall be counted as periods of residence in the United Kingdom.
(3) The condition as to nationality imposed by paragraph (b ) of subsection (1) of this section shall not be required to be fulfilled in the case of a woman who satisfies the pension authorities that she would, but for her marriage with an alien, have fulfilled this condition.
(4) For the purposes of this Act, ‘blind person’ means a person so blind as to be unable to perform any work for which eyesight is essential.
3 Disqualifications for old age pension.
(1) Where during any period a person—
(a ) is an inmate of any workhouse or other poor law institution; or
(b ) is detained in prison in pursuance of an order made on his conviction for any offence and directing him to be imprisoned without the option of a fine, or to suffer any greater punishment; or
(c ) is being maintained in any place as a rate-aided person of unsound mind, or as a criminal lunatic, or is detained in any mental hospital within the meaning of the Lunacy and Mental Treatment Acts, 1890 to 1930,
then, subject to the provisions of this section, he shall be disqualified for receiving any sum accruing during that period on account of any pension which would otherwise be payable to him, and if before the commencement of that period any sum has accrued on account of a pension payable to him, that sum shall not be paid to him during the continuance of the said period.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person who has become an inmate of any workhouse or other poor law institution for the purpose of obtaining medical or surgical treatment shall not be treated as being such an inmate so long as he continues to require such treatment.
(3) Where a person of sixty years of age or upwards having been convicted before any court is liable to have a detention order made against him under the Inebriates Act, 1898 , and is not necessarily, by virtue of the provisions of this Act, disqualified from receiving or continuing to receive an old age pension under this Act, the court may, if they think fit, order that the person convicted be so disqualified for such period, not exceeding ten years, as the court direct.
4 Prohibition against double pensions.
(1) Not more than one old age pension, whether under this Act or under the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act, 1936 , shall be payable to any one person:
Provided that the right to a pension under the last-mentioned Act shall not affect any right to, or to the continuance of, a pension payable under this Act, or any Act repealed by this Act, to a blind person who has not attained the age of seventy.
(2) If a person in receipt of an old age pension under this Act is granted an old age pension under the corresponding Acts relating to old age pensions in Northern Ireland, he shall, as from the date on which that pension commences to accrue, be disqualified for continuing to receive the pension under this Act.
5 Payment of old age pensions.
(1) An old age pension under this Act, subject to any directions of the Treasury in special cases, shall be paid weekly in advance in such manner and subject to such conditions as to identification or otherwise as the Treasury direct.
(2) A sum shall not be paid on account of an old age pension—
(a ) to any person unless that person is in Great Britain; or
(b ) if payment of the sum is not obtained within three months after the date on which it has become payable:
Provided that, where a person in receipt of an old age pension under this Act becomes resident in Northern Ireland, the pension shall continue to be payable for a period of twelve weeks from the Friday next following the date on which the pensioner ceased to be resident in Great Britain, or, if that date was a Friday, from that date, but no payment shall be made on account of the pension until a period of five weeks has elapsed from the date aforesaid.
Payments on account of any such pension shall be made by the appropriate department of the Government of Northern Ireland as agents for and on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom.
6 Date of commencement of pension or of increased rate of pension.
(1) Where a pension is first allowed the pension shall commence to accrue, and where, by virtue of a decision on any question which has been raised, a pension becomes payable at an increased rate, the pension shall become payable at the increased rate on the first Friday after the date on which the claim for the pension is received by the pension officer or on which the notice of the question is received by the pension officer, as the case may be, or on the first Friday after the date on which the claimant or the pensioner first becomes entitled to the pension or on which the pension first becomes payable at the increased rate, whichever is the later, or, if the later of those two dates is a Friday, on that Friday.
(2) Where any general public holiday falls on a Friday, the Treasury may, if they think fit, direct that sums payable by way of old age pensions on that Friday shall be paid on some other day, whether earlier or later.
7 Old age pension to be inalienable, &c.
(1) Every assignment of or charge on and every agreement to assign or charge an old age pension under this Act shall be void, and, on the bankruptcy of a person entitled to an old age pension, the pension shall not pass to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of the creditors.
(2) Any sums received by any person by way of an old age pension shall not be included in calculating his means for the purpose of section five of the Debtors Act, 1869.
8 Determination of claims and questions.
(1) All claims for old age pensions under this Act and all questions whether the statutory conditions are fulfilled in the case of any person claiming such a pension, or whether those conditions continue to be fulfilled in the case of a person in receipt of such a pension, or whether a person is disqualified for receiving or continuing to receive a pension, shall be considered and determined as follows:—
(a ) Any such claim or question shall stand referred to the local pension committee, and the committee shall (except in the case of a question which has been originated by the pension officer and on which...
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