Social Security Act 1980

PART I The amendments

1 In section 1—

(a) for paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—

(a) a supplementary pension if he is one of a married or unmarried couple of whom one is or both are over the age of 65 or if he is not one of such a couple and has attained pensionable age ; and

(b) a supplementary allowance in any other case;

(b) at the end of subsection (1) there shall be inserted the words " Paragraph (a) of this subsection shall have effect until the prescribed date as if the words from ' is one' to ' couple and ' were omitted ";

(c) after subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

(1A) Regulations may provide for a person's entitlement under subsection (1) above to continue during prescribed periods of the person's temporary absence from Great Britain.;

(d) at the end of subsection (3) there shall be inserted the words " ; and regulations may provide that the requirements which by virtue of this subsection are not included in a person's requirements include or exclude prescribed requirements ".

2 In section 2—

(a) for the words "shall be determined by the Supplementary Benefits Commission " in subsection (1) there shall be substituted the words " and any other question relating to supplementary benefit which arises under this Act shall be determined by a benefit officer except so far as this Act or regulations provide otherwise ; and regulations may provide for different aspects of the same question to be dealt with by different benefit officers. ";

(b) after subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

(1A) Regulations may provide for prescribed questions to be determined otherwise than by benefit officers and, without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions of this subsection.—

(a) for prescribed questions to be referred to bodies or persons exercising functions under the Social Security Act 1975 and for the application of provisions of that Act, with or without modifications, to the questions and to decisions given in consequence of references in pursuance of the regulations ;

(b) for such decisions, and any other prescribed decisions given in pursuance of that Act, to be effective or conclusive for prescribed purposes of this Act; and

(c) for dealing, by postponement or otherwise, with cases in which questions are referred by virtue of paragraph (a) of this subsection. ;

(c) the words from the second "and" in subsection (2)(a) to the end of the section shall be omitted.

3 In section 3—

(a) for the words from the beginning to " person" in subsection (1) there shall be substituted the words " There shall be payable in prescribed cases, to a person who is entitled or would if he satisfied prescribed conditions be entitled to a supplementary pension or allowance, supplementary benefit ";

(b) after the word " payment" in subsection (1) there shall be inserted the words " of a prescribed amount ";

(c) for the words " the Commission may have regard " in subsection (2) there shall be substituted the words " regard shall be had, so far as regulations so provide, "; and

(d) for the words from "Part III" onwards in subsection (2) there shall be substituted the words " regulations made in pursuance of paragraph 1(2)(b) of Schedule 1 to this Act ".

4 For section 4 there shall be substituted the following section—

“4 Provision for cases of urgent need.

(1) In urgent cases supplementary benefit shall be payable in accordance with this Act as modified by virtue of this section ; and regulations may—

(a) prescribe the cases which are urgent cases for the purposes of this section ;

(b) provide that in relation to such cases any of the provisions of sections 3, 5 to 8 and 10 of this Act and Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect with prescribed modifications.

(2) Any sums paid to a person by virtue of the preceding subsection, except a sum as to which it has been determined in accordance with regulations that it is not to be recovered in pursuance of this subsection, shall be recoverable from him by the Secretary of State by making deductions from prescribed benefits or in any other manner.”

5 In section 5 for the words " The Commission may determine that" there shall be substituted the words " Except in prescribed cases, " and for the words from " by regulations" onwards there shall be substituted the words “and is available for employment; and regulations may make provision as to—

(a) what is and is not to be treated as employment for the purposes of this section ; and

(b) the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated for those purposes as available for employment".”.

6 For sections 6 and 7 there shall be substituted the following section—

6 Exclusion from supplementary benefit of certain employed persons and pupils.

(1) A person who is engaged in remunerative full-time work shall not be entitled to supplementary benefit; and regulations may make provision as to the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated for the purposes of this subsection as so engaged.

(2) A person who has not attained the age of 19 and is receiving relevant education shall not be entitled to supplementary benefit except in prescribed circumstances.

(3) Regulations may make provision as to the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated for the purposes of the preceding subsection as receiving relevant education; and in this section " relevant education" means full-time education by attendance at an establishment recognised by the Secretary of State as being, or as comparable to, a college or school.

7 In section 8—

(a) in subsection (1), for the words " the requirement to pro vide for any other person " there shall be substituted the words " requirements of another person which are to be treated as his by virtue of any other provision of this Act and are not to be disregarded by virtue of this subsection as it applies to the other person "; and

(b) subsection (3) shall be omitted.

8 In section 9—

(a) in subsection (1), for the words " requirement to provide for " there shall be substituted the words " requirements of " and for the words "section 6 of this Act (exclusion of persons in full-time employment) " there shall be substituted the words " section 6(1) of this Act ";

(b) in subsection (2), for the words from "in accordance" onwards there shall be substituted the words " or another person in accordance with regulations ";

(c) in subsection (3), for the words from the beginning to " work) " there shall be substituted the words " Regulations made by virtue of section 6(1) of this Act providing for a person not to be treated as engaged in remunerative full-time work "; and

(d) subsections (4) to (8) shall be omitted.

9 For section 10 there shall be substituted the following section—

10 Modification of right to supplementary allowance in certain cases.

(1) Where—

(a) a person is registered for employment in pursuance of section 5 of this Act and is not receiving unemployment benefit under the Social Security Act 1975 ; and

(b) it appears to a benefit officer that the person refuses or neglects to maintain himself or any other person whom for the purposes of this Act he is liable to maintain,

the officer may give him in the prescribed manner a direction in writing requiring him to attend a course of instruction or training which is approved or provided by the Secretary of State and is specified in the direction.

(2) A person to whom such a direction is given may, in accordance with rules made by the Secretary of State, appeal against the direction to the Appeal Tribunal; and on an appeal in pursuance of this subsection the tribunal shall either confirm or cancel the direction.

(3) A direction under subsection (1) of this section shall not come into force—

(a) until the expiration of the period within which, without any extension of time, an appeal against it may be brought in pursuance of the preceding subsection; and

(b) if during that period such an appeal is brought, until the appeal is withdrawn or the direction is confirmed by the tribunal.

(4) A person in respect of whom a direction under subsection (1) of this section is in force shall not be entitled to a supplementary allowance while he fails to comply with the direction.

(5) Regulations may make provision with respect to the consequences of the cancellation of a direction which has come into force.

10 In section 11, for subsections (1) and (2) there shall be substituted the following subsection—

(1) Regulations may make provision—

(a) for the requirements of any person to be met in pre scribed circumstances by the provision of goods or services instead of by making the whole or part of any payment to which he would otherwise be entitled under this Act;

(b) for any provision of this Act or regulations under it to be disregarded in connection with the provision of goods or services by virtue of the preceding paragraph ;

(c) as to the manner of providing goods and services to be provided by virtue of that paragraph. ;

and accordingly subsection (3) of that section shall be subsection (2) of that section.

11 In section 12—

(a) for subsection (1) there shall be substituted the following subsections—

(1) Where a prescribed payment which apart from this subsection falls to be made from public funds in the United Kingdom or under the law of any other member State is not made on or before the date which is the prescribed date in relation to the payment ,'then—

(a) in the case of a payment from such public funds, the authority responsible for making it may abate it by the relevant amount; and

(b) in the case of any other payment, the Secretary of State shall be entitled to receive the relevant amount out of the payment;

and in this subsection "the relevant amount", in relation to a payment, means the amount which a benefit officer determines has been paid by way of supplementary benefit and would not have been paid if the payment had been made on the date aforesaid.

(1A) Where—

(a) a payment by way of prescribed income is made after the date which is the prescribed date in relation to the payment; and

(b) a benefit officer determines that an amount which has been paid by way of supplementary benefit would not have been paid if the said payment had been made on the date aforesaid,

the Secretary of State shall be entitled to recover that amount from the person to whom it was paid. ;

(b) in subsection (2) for the words from ", or to " to " security benefit')" in paragraph (a) there shall be substituted the words " any prescribed benefit ", for the words from " or of " to " security " in paragraph (c) and where they first occur after that paragraph there shall be substituted the words " the prescribed ", for the words "the Commission determine " there shall be substituted the words " a benefit officer determines " and for the words from " equal" onwards there shall be substituted the words " equal to the amount of the prescribed benefit ";

(c) in subsection (3) for the words " the Commission of " there shall be substituted the words " a benefit officer of " and for the words " Commission have " there shall be substituted the words " officer has "; and

(d) for subsection (4) there shall be substituted the following subsections—

(4) Where a benefit officer makes—

(a) a determination in pursuance of the preceding provisions of this section in respect of an amount of supplementary benefit; or

(b) a determination altering on review or refusing to review a determination in respect of such an amount which has been made for the purposes of this section by a benefit officer or on appeal,

the relevant person may appeal to the Appeal Tribunal against the determination; and subsection (3) of section 15 of this Act shall apply to an appeal under this subsection as it applies to an appeal under that section.

(5) In the preceding subsection " the relevant person " means the person who is entitled, apart from subsection (1), (2) or (3) of this section, to the prescribed payment or the prescribed benefit or the rebate or allowance in question or, as the case may be, to whom the amount mentioned in subsection (1A) of this section was paid.

12 (1) In section 14, in subsection (1) for the words from the beginning to " section," there shall be substituted the words " Regulations may " and for the words " and Part II of Schedule 2 to this Act" there shall be substituted the words " to this Act; and nothing in any other provision of this Act shall be construed as prejudicing the generality of this subsection ".

(2) Section 14(2) shall be amended as follows—

(a) for the words preceding paragraph (a) there shall be substituted the words " Regulations may make provision— ";

(b) in paragraph (a) after the word "manner" there shall be inserted the words " and within such time ";

(c) for paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

(b) for enabling a person to be appointed to exercise, on behalf of a claimant who may be or become unable to act in relation to his claim, any power in relation to it which the claimant is entitled to exercise ;

(d) in paragraph (d), for the words " the Commission " in both places there shall be substituted the words " a benefit officer " and the words "National Insurance" shall be omitted ;

(e) in paragraph (e) for the words from " period " to " in the regulations " there shall be substituted the words " prescribed period of not less than twelve months ";

(f) the word " and " at the end of paragraphs (e) and (ee) shall be omitted ;

(g) for paragraph (f) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—

(f) as to the day on which entitlement to a supplementary pension or allowance is to begin or end or the amount of a supplementary pension or allowance is to change;

(g) as to the time and manner of paying supplementary benefit and the information and evidence to be furnished in connection with payments of it;

(h) for withholding payments of a supplementary pension or allowance in prescribed circumstances and fox subsequently making withheld payments in prescribed circumstances ;

(f) as to the circumstances and manner in which payments of supplementary benefit may be made to another person on behalf of the beneficiary for any purpose (which may be to discharge, in whole or in part, an obligation of the beneficiary or any other person):

(j) for the payment or distribution of supplementary benefit to or among persons claiming to be entitled to it on the death of any person and for dispensing with strict proof of their title ;

(k) for the payment of travelling expenses in connection with claims for supplementary benefit.

(3) Accordingly subsections (3) and (4) of section 14 (which relate to the payment of benefit to a person other than the beneficiary and to travelling expenses in connection with claims for benefit) shall be omitted.

13 In section 15—

(a) in subsection (1), for the words from " the Commission or " onwards there shall be substituted the words " a benefit officer (including a determination to refuse to review a determination) with respect to the claim or benefit, except that no appeal shall lie by virtue of this subsection in a case falling within section 10(2), 12(4) or 20(3) of this Act ";

(b) subsection (2) (which is superseded by the amendment in paragraph 2(b) of this Schedule) shall be omitted ; and

(c) in subsection (3) paragraph (b) shall be omitted and for the words " the Commission " in paragraph (c) there shall be substituted the words " a benefit officer ".

14 In section 15A the words " National Insurance " in both places and the words from "and includes" onwards in subsection (5) shall be omitted.

15 Section 16 shall be amended as follows—

(a) the words " or, in Scotland, on the sequestration of the estate " shall be omitted ; and

(b) that section as amended by sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph shall be subsection (1) of that section and after that subsection there shall be inserted the following subsection—

(2) In the application of the preceding subsection to Scotland—

(a) the reference to assignment of supplementary benefit shall be read as a reference to its assignation, " assign " being construed accordingly ; and

(b) the reference to the bankruptcy of a person entitled to supplementary benefit shall be read as a reference to the sequestration of his estate or the appointment on his estate of a judicial factor under section 14 of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1913 or section 15 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1958.

16 In section 17—

(a) after paragraph (b) of subsection (1) there shall be inserted the words “; and

(c) a person shall be liable to maintain another person throughout any period in respect of which the first-mentioned person has, on or after the date of the passing of the Social Security Act 1980 and either alone or jointly with a further person, given an undertaking in writing in pursuance of immigration rules within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971 to be responsible for the maintenance and accommodation of the other person”; and

(b) after subsection (2) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

(3) A document bearing a certificate which—

(a) is signed by a person authorised in that behalf by the Secretary of State ; and

(b) states that the document apart from the certificate is, or is a copy of, such an undertaking as is mentioned in subsection (1)(c) of this section,

shall be conclusive evidence for the purposes of this Act of the undertaking in question ; and a certificate purporting to be signed as aforesaid shall be deemed to be so signed until the contrary is proved.

17 In section 18—

(a) in subsection (1), for the words " relative ') the Commission " there shall be substituted the words " person') the Secretary of State " and for the words " relative to " there shall be substituted the words " person to ";

(b) in subsection (2) for the word " No " there shall be substituted the words " Except in a case falling within section 17(1)(c) of this Act, no ";

(c) in subsections (2) to (4), for the word " relative" and "relative's" there shall be substituted respectively the word " person " and " person's " ;

(d) at the end of subsection (3) there shall be inserted the words " .except that in a case falling within section 17(1)(c) of this Act that sum shall not include any amount which is not attributable to supplementary benefit (whether paid before or after the making of the order). "; and

(e) subsection (6) shall be omitted.

18 In section 19—

(a) for the word " Commission " wherever it occurs, except in subsection (7), there shall be substituted the words " Secretary of State ";

(b) subsection (7) shall be omitted ; and

(c) in subsection (8) for the figure " (7)" there shall be substituted the figure " (6) ".

19 In section 20—

(a) in subsection (2), for the words from " referred to " onwards there shall be substituted the words " determined by a benefit officer ";

(b) for subsection (3) there shall be substituted the following subsection—

(3) A person from whom, in pursuance of a determination of a benefit officer under the preceding subsection, an amount is recoverable under this section may appeal to the Appeal Tribunal against the determination ; and subsection (3) of section 15 of this Act shall apply to an appeal under this subsection as it applies to an appeal under that section.;

(c) in subsection (4) for the words from " benefit under " onwards there shall be substituted the words " prescribed benefits "; and

(d) for subsection (5) there shall be substituted the following subsection—

(5) Subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall apply to any question as to whether any amount or what amount is recoverable by the Secretary of State under section 45 of the National Assistance Act 1948 or section 26 of the Supplementary Benefit Act 1966 (which contain provisions corresponding to subsection (1) of this section) and subsection (4) of this section shall apply to an amount recoverable under either of those sections—

(a) as if for any reference in those subsections to this section there were substituted references to the said section 45 or 26, as the case may be ; and

(b) as respects a question relating to recovery under the said section 45 and an amount recoverable under that section, as if the words " paid by way of supplementary benefit" in subsections (2) and (4) of this section were omitted.

20 In section 21 before the word " liable " there shall be inserted the words " guilty of an offence and ".

21 In section 22 the words " or the Commission" shall be omitted and before the word " liable " there shall be inserted the words " guilty of an offence and ".

22 In section 24—

(a) for the words " to which this section applies " in subsection (1) there shall be substituted the words " of regulations under section 9(2) of this Act ";

(b) before the word " liable " in subsection (1) there shall be inserted the words " guilty of an offence and "; and

(c) subsection (2) shall be omitted.

23 In section 25(1), paragraph (b) and the word "or" at the end of paragraph (a) shall be omitted and before the words " liable on " there shall be inserted the words " guilty of an offence and ".

24 In section 27—

(a) for the words from the beginning to " Act" in subsection (1) there shall be substituted the words " It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to make arrangements with a view to ensuring that benefit officers and other officers of his concerned with the administration of this Act exercise their functions "; and

(b) for subsections (2) to (4) there shall be substituted the following subsection—

(2) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to appoint persons to perform the functions conferred by virtue of this Act on benefit officers.

25 In section 30—

(a) for subsection (1) there shall be substituted the following subsection—

(1) The provisions of Schedule 5 to this Act shall have effect with respect to re-establishment courses and resettlement units.;

(b) in subsection (2) for the words from " in exercise" to " may " there shall be substituted the words " the Secretary of State so directs, payment at such rates as he may " and for the words " a centre" there shall be substituted the words " connection with courses provided or units "; and

(c) subsections (3) and (4) shall be omitted.

26 In section 31—

(a) in subsection (3), for the words from the beginning to " him " there shall be substituted the words " Regulations may provide for such modifications of this Act as appear to the Secretary of State "; and

(b) in subsection (4), for the words from the beginning to " adjustments " there shall be substituted the words " The power to make regulations conferred by the preceding subsection ".

27 After section 32 there shall be inserted the following section—

32A Modification of Act for special cases.

Regulations may provide for any provision of this Act except this section to have effect with prescribed modifications—

(a) in cases involving a marriage celebrated under a law which permits polygamy or a marriage during the subsistence of which a party to it is at any time married to more than one person ;

(b) in cases where the Secretary of State considers that without the modifications the provision in question would give rise to an anomaly or an injustice or would produce impractical consequences.

28 In section 33—

(a) in subsection (1A) the words " and regulations" shall be omitted ; and

(b) for subsections (2) and (3) there shall be substituted the following subsections—

(2) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 166 of the Social Security Act 1975 (which among other things make provision about the extent of powers to make regulations) shall apply to powers to make regulations conferred by this Act as they apply to powers to make regulations conferred by that Act but as if for references to that Act there were substituted references to this Act.

(3) Regulations of the following kinds, namely—

(a) regulations of which the effect is to increase an amount which is specified in regulations made in pursuance of section 3 of this Act or which, by virtue of regulations made in pursuance of paragraph (b) of section 4(1) of this Act, is specified in a provision mentioned in that paragraph ;

(b) regulations made in pursuance of section 32A(b) of this Act except regulations made for the purpose only of consolidating regulations which they revoke ;

(c) regulations made in pursuance of paragraph 1 or 2 of Schedule 1 to this Act except regulations made for the purpose only of consolidating regulations which they revoke,

shall not be made unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House and, in the case of regulations falling within paragraph (a) or (c) of this subsection, shall not be made without the consent of the Treasury.

(4) A statutory instrument containing regulations of which a draft is not required by the preceding subsection to be approved as there mentioned or containing rules made under this Act shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of any power conferred by this Act to make regulations, regulations may provide for a person to exercise a discretion in dealing with any matter.

29 In section 34—

(a) the following definitions shall be inserted at the appropriate places in alphabetical order in subsection (1) of that section—

• " benefit officer" means a person appointed in pursuance of section 27(2) of this Act;

• " married couple " means a man and a woman who are married to each other and are members of the same household ;

• " modifications" includes additions, omissions and amendments, and related expressions shall be construed accordingly ;

• " prescribed" means specified in or determined in accordance with regulations ;

• " regulations " means regulations made by the Secretary of State under this Act;

• " unmarried couple " means a man and a woman who / are not married to each other but are living together as husband and wife otherwise than in prescribed circumstances ;

(b) in subsection (1) the definitions of " blind " and " the Commission " and "school" shall be omitted and in the definition of " supplementary benefit " the words from " and includes " onwards shall be omitted ; and

(c) after subsection (2) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

(3) Regulations may make provision as to the circumstances in which a person is to be treated for the purposes of any specified provision of this Act—

(a) as being or not being a member of the same household as another person ;

(b) as responsible for another person

30 For Schedule 1 there shall be substituted the following Schedule—

Sections 2,3, 4,14 and 33.

SCHEDULE 1 PROVISIONS FOR DETERMINING RIGHT TO BENEFIT AND AMOUNT OF BENEFIT

General

1 (1) The amount of any supplementary benefit to which a person is entitled shall, subject to the following provisions of this Schedule, be the amount by which his resources fall short of his requirements.

(2) For the purpose of ascertaining that amount—

(a) a person's requirements shall be determined in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Schedule ; and

(b) a person's resources shall be calculated in the prescribed manner ;

and, without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (b) of this sub-paragraph, regulations in pursuance of that paragraph may provide for a person to be treated as possessing resources which he does not possess and for disregarding resources which a person does possess.

(3) Regulations may provide that a person whose resources as ascertained in pursuance of paragraph (b) of the preceding sub-paragraph or a prescribed part of them exceed or exceeds a prescribed amount shall not be entitled to a supplementary pension or allowance.

Requirements

2 (1) For the purposes of this Schedule requirements shall be of three categories, namely, normal requirements, additional requirements and housing requirements ; and the items to which each category relates and, subject to sub-paragraph (3) of this paragraph, the weekly amounts for those categories shall be such as may be prescribed.

(2) A person's requirements shall consist of normal requirements together with requirements, if any, of such of the other categories as are applicable in his case.

(3) In the case of a person specified in the first column of the following table his normal requirements shall be taken to be the weekly amount specified in relation to him in the second column of that table ; and in that table—

• "householder" means a person who is not one of a married or unmarried couple but who satisfies prescribed conditions with respect to living accommodation ; and

• "relevant person" means a person whose requirements include those of another person by virtue of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 3 of this Schedule.

TABLE

Person	Weekly amount
1. A relevant person who— (a) is such a person as is mentioned in section 1(1)(a) of this Act; or (b) is not such a person as is so mentioned but satisfies prescribed conditions.	The aggregate of the sums for the time being specified in section 6(1)(a) of the Social Security Pensions Act 1975 and column (3) of paragraph 6 of Part IV of Schedule 4 to the Social Security Act 1975 (which specify the amounts of the basic component of a Category A retirement pension and the increase of the pension for an adult dependant).
2. A relevant person not falling within paragraph 1 of this table.	The aggregate of the sums for the time being specified in paragraph 1 of Part I of the said Schedule 4 and column (3) of paragraph 1(a) of the said Part IV (which specify the amounts of unemployment or sickness benefit and the increase of it for an adult dependant of a beneficiary under pensionable age).
3. A householder who— (a) has attained pensionable age; or (b) has not attained pensionable age but satisfies prescribed conditions.	The sum for the time being specified in the said section 6(1)(a).
4. A householder not falling within paragraph 3 of this table.	The sum for the time being specified in paragraph 1 of the said Part I.

(4) Regulations may provide that the preceding subparagraph shall have effect with prescribed modifications.

(5) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of this paragraph, regulations may provide for a person to be treated as having no normal requirements in prescribed cases.

Aggregation of requirements and resources

3 (1) Where two persons are a married or unmarried couple, their requirements and resources shall be aggregated and treated—

(a) until the prescribed date, as those of the man ; and

(b) on and after that date, as those of such one of them as satisfies prescribed conditions or, where both of them satisfy or neither of them satisfies those conditions, as those of such one of them as they may jointly nominate in accordance with regulations or, in default of such a nomination, as the Secretary of State may determine.

(2) Where a person is responsible for, and is a member of the same household as, another person and they are not a married or unmarried couple, then—

(a) if the other person is a child or is excluded from entitlement to supplementary benefit by section 6(2) of this Act; or

(b) if the circumstances are such as are prescribed,

their requirements and resources shall be aggregated and treated as those of the first-mentioned person.

(3) Regulations may provide that, in a case falling within the preceding sub-paragraph, sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph shall apply in relation to the other person with prescribed modifications.

Exclusion of small payments

4 Where the amount of any supplementary benefit would be less than a prescribed amount, the benefit shall not be payable except in prescribed circumstances.

31 In Schedule 5—

(a) for the word "Commission", wherever it occurs except in paragraphs 1, 2(1) and 3, there shall be substituted the words " Secretary of State ";

(b) in paragraph 1(1) for the words from the beginning to " where " there shall be substituted the words " The Secretary of State may provide courses, to be known as re-establishment courses, at which " and for the words from " attend " to " afforded by the Commission ' there shall be substituted the words " be afforded ";

(c) in paragraph 1(2) for the words from " or be " onwards there shall be substituted the words " re-establishment courses either in consequence of a direction under section 10(1) of this Act or otherwise, and the Secretary of State may provide temporary board and lodging for persons attending re-establishment courses. ";

(d) in paragraph 2(1) for the words from " Commission to" onwards there shall be substituted the words " Secretary of State to provide and maintain places, to be known as resettlement units, at which persons without a settled way of life are afforded temporary board and lodging with a view to influencing them to lead a more settled life. ";

(e) in paragraph 2(2) for the words " reception centres " there shall be substituted the words " resettlement units ";

(f) in paragraph 2(4) for the word " them" there shall be substituted the word " him ";

(g) paragraph 3 shall be omitted ;

(h) in paragraph 4 for the words " maintaining centres " there shall be substituted the words " providing courses or places " and for the words "centres or reception centres are maintained " there shall be substituted the words " courses or resettlement units are provided ".

32 (1) In Schedule 6 paragraphs 6 and 7 (which relate to transitional cases involving a pension under the [1936 c. 31.] Old Age Pensions Act 1936 or an assistance grant under the [1948 c. 29.] National Assistance Act 1948 or an appeal to a tribunal constituted under Schedule 3 to the [1966 c. 20.] Supplementary Benefit Act 1966) shall cease to have effect, but any supplementary benefit payable to a woman instead of to another person by virtue of sub-paragraph (4) of the said paragraph 6 shall continue to be so payable subject to any regulations relating to that sub-paragraph which are made in pursuance of section 8(1) of this Act.

(2) In paragraph 8 of Schedule 6 (which among other things provides for certain proceedings for the recovery of sums which could previously have been taken by the National Assistance Board to be taken by the Supplementary Benefits Commission in some cases and the Secretary of State in others) for paragraphs (a) and (b) of sub-paragraph (1) there shall be substituted the words " by the Secretary of State " , and sub-paragraph (3) shall be omitted.