Supplementary Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1981
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
1981 No. 815
SOCIAL SECURITY
The Supplementary Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 19815thJune 1981
15thJune1981
27thJuly 1981
The Secretary of State for Social Services, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 1(1A), 2(1A)(a) and (b), 3, 4, 5, 6(1), 9(2), 11(a), 12(1) and (1A), 14(1) and (2)(a), (d), (f), (g) (i) and (j), 20(4) and 34(3) of the Supplementary Benefits Act 1976(a) and section 6(1) of the Social Security (No. 2) Act 1980(b) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, and after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee that proposals to make these regulations should not be referred to it(c), hereby makes the following regulations:—
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.—(1) These regulations, which may be cited as the Supplementary Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1981, shall come into operation on 27th July 1981.
(2) In these regulations—
"Aggregation Regulations" means the Supplementary Benefit (Aggregation) Regulations 1980(d);
"Claims and Payments Regulations" means the Supplementary Benefit (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1980(e);
"Conditions of Entitlement Regulations" means the Supplementary Benefit (Conditions of Entitlement) Regulations 1980(f);
"Deductions and Payments Regulations" means the Supplementary Benefit (Deductions and Payments to Third Parties) Regulations 1980(g);
"Determination of Questions Regulations" means the Supplementary Benefit (Determination of Questions) Regulations 1980(h);
"Duplication and Overpayment Regulations" means the Supplementary Benefit (Duplication and Overpayment) Regulations 1980(i);
"Single Payments Regulations" means the Supplementary Benefit (Single Payments) Regulations 1980(j);
(a) 1976 c. 71; the Act as amended (other than sections 31, 32, 35 and 36 and Schedules 4 and 6 to 8) is set out in Part II of Schedule 2 to the Social Security Act 1980 (c. 30).
(b) 1980 c. 39.
(c) See the Social Security Act 1980 section 10(2)(b).
(d) S.I. 1980/982.
(e) S.I. 1980/1579.
(f) S.I. 1980/1586; the relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1981/99.
(g) S.I. 1980/983; the relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1980/1649.
(h) S.I. 1980/1643.
(i) S.I. 1980/1580.
(j) S.I. 1980/985; the relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1980/1649.
"Trade Disputes Regulations" means the Supplementary Benefit (Trade Disputes and Recovery from Earnings) Regulations 1980(a);
"Urgent Cases Regulations" means the Supplementary Benefit (Urgent Cases) Regulations 1980(b).
Amendment of the Aggregation Regulations
2.—(1) This regulation shall amend the Aggregation Regulations.
(2) In regulation 1(2) (interpretation), in the definition of "prisoner" for the words from "a person" to the end there shall be substituted the words "any person whose detention in a prison, remand centre, borstal institution or detention centre is for the time being authorised by law;".
(3) In regulation 2 (circumstances in which married couples are to be treated as being, or not being, members of the same household)—
(a) in paragraph (3)(b), for head (ii) there shall be substituted the following heads:—
"(ii) in the opinion of a benefit officer, his stay in that hospital or similar institution has become other than temporary,
(iii) he is a patient detained in a hospital provided under section 4 of the National Health Service Act 1977(c) or section 89(1) of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1960(d) (special or State hospitals);":
(b) for paragraph (3)(c) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph:—
"(c) is absent from Great Britain while his partner remains in Great Britain, he shall continue to be treated as a member of the same household as his partner unless he has been absent for a continuous period of more than 4 weeks and—
(i) he is a claimant to whom regulation 3 of the Supplementary Benefit (Conditions of Entitlement) Regulations 1980(e) (persons abroad whose entitlement is to continue) applies, or
(ii) before the absence began he was not, or would not have been if a claim for supplementary pension or allowance had been made, the relevant person;".
(4) In regulation 3 (circumstances in which a person is to be treated as being responsible for another person), in paragraph (3)(b), for the words "C is neither a partner of A nor" there shall be substituted the words "A and C are not a married or unmarried couple and C is not".
(5) In regulation 4 (dependants who are not to be treated as members of the household), in paragraph (2) there shall be added the following sub-paragraphs:—
"(e) B is a child or pupil or person to whom regulation 3(5) of these regulations applies who is boarded out with A by a local authority or voluntary organisation within the meaning of the Child Care Act 1980(f);
(f) B is a child or pupil or person to whom regulation 3(5) of these regulations applies who is placed in the care and possession of A and whom A proposes to adopt.".
(a) S.I. 1980/1641.
(b) S.I. 1980/1642.
(c) 1977 c. 49.
(d) 1960 c. 61.
(e) S.I. 1980/1586.
(f) 1980 c. 5.
(6) After regulation 4 there shall be inserted the following regulation:—
"Dependants who are to be treated as members of the household
4A. For the purposes of paragraph 3(2) of the Schedule a child or pupil or other person to whom regulation 4(2)(f) of these regulations applies shall be treated as being a member of the same household as his parent, but only if that parent is treated as a person responsible for him for the purposes of section 3 of the Child Benefit Act 1975.".
Amendment of the Deductions and Payments Regulations
3.—(1) This regulation shall amend the Deductions and Payments Regulations.
(2) In regulation 3 (regular payments to third parties for housing and fuel requirements)—
(a) in paragraph (1), after sub-paragraph (b) and before the words "and, in the opinion of a benefit officer" there shall be inserted the words "which continues to be applicable to the claimant";
(b) in paragraph (3)(b) for the words "in respect of any such debt" there shall be substituted the words "for each such debt except where current consumption is paid for by other means (for example by a pre-payment meter)";
(c) in paragraph (3) there shall be added after sub-paragraph (b) the words "and the benefit officer may direct that, when the debt is discharged, the amount determined under sub-paragraph (b) shall continue to be an amount to which the determination applies";
(d) in paragraph (4)(a) for the word "total" there shall be substituted the word "normal".
(3) In regulation 7 (payment of supplementary benefit to third parties)—
(a) for paragraph (c) there shall be substituted the following paragraph:—
"(c) either—
(i) in the opinion of a benefit officer is incapable of budgeting, or wilfully refuses to budget, for any item of expenditure to which Part II, III or IV of the Requirements Regulations (normal, additional or housing requirements) applicable to him relates, other than one to which regulation 3(1)(a) or (b) of these regulations applies in circumstances to which that regulation applies, or
(ii) is temporarily absent from the home,";
(b) there shall be added at the end the words "; and in this regulation 'home' has the meaning assigned to it in the Requirements Regulations".
(4) After regulation 9 there shall be added the following regulation:—
"Payment of housing requirements on behalf of prisoners
10. Where a claimant is a prisoner within the meaning of regulation 2(1) of the Requirements Regulations (interpretation) to whom a pension or allowance is payable by virtue only of regulation 14(5)(d) of those regulations (housing requirements applicable to prisoners in custody awaiting trial or sentence), that pension or allowance shall be paid, at such intervals as the Secretary of State may direct, to the person or body to whom payment in respect of the claimant's housing requirements is due on behalf of the claimant in discharge of an obligation of his.".
Amendment of the Single Payments Regulations
4.—(1) This regulation shall amend the Single Payments Regulations.
(2) In regulation 2 (interpretation), in paragraph (1) in the definition of "prisoner" for the words from "a person" to the end there shall be substituted the words "any person whose detention in a prison, remand centre, borstal institution or detention centre is for the time being authorised by law;".
(3) In regulation 3 (meaning of single payment and amount payable), for paragraph (3) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs:—
"(3) Except in so far as regulation 5(1) provides that no amount or a reduced amount shall be payable, the amount of a single payment which falls to be made by virtue of any regulation in Parts II to VII of these regulations shall be—
(a) subject to paragraph (3B), where the amount is specified in that regulation, that amount; or
(b) where that regulation provides that the payment is to be made in respect of the purchase of an item, such amount as is necessary to purchase an item of reasonable quality; or
(c) where that regulation provides that the payment is to be made in respect of costs of services provided, the amount of such costs to the extent that they are reasonable.
(3A) Except in so far as regulation 5(2) provides that a reduced amount shall be payable, the amount of a single payment which falls to be made by virtue of regulation 30 shall be—
(a) where the payment is to be made in respect of the purchase of an item—
(i) subject to paragraph (3B), if that item, and an amount for that item, is specified in any regulation in Parts II to VII of these regulations (including the Schedules to these regulations), that amount,
(ii) in any other case, such amount as is necessary to purchase an item of reasonable quality, and if provision is made for the purchase of that item in the said Parts II to VII (for example, that the amount shall be in respect of the purchase of a second-hand item) that provision shall apply;
(b) where the payment is to be made in...
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