Social Security Act 1989

Income-related benefits

13 Income support and unemployment

(1) In section 20 of the 1986 Act (income-related benefits) in subsection (3)(d)(i) (availability for employment as a condition for income support) after the words “available for” there shall be inserted the words “, and actively seeking,”.

(2) In subsection (12) of that section, for paragraph (d) (regulations defining availability for employment etc) there shall be substituted—

“(d) as to circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as—

(i) engaged or normally engaged in remunerative work;

(ii) available for employment; or

(iii) actively seeking employment;”.

14 Housing benefit to take the form of payments or reductions

(1) In section 28 of the 1986 Act (arrangements for housing benefit) after subsection (1) there shall be inserted—

“(1A) The rebates and allowances referred to in subsection (1) above may take any of the following forms, that is to say—

(a) a payment or payments by the authority to the person entitled to the benefit;

(b) a reduction in the amount of any payments which that person is liable to make to the authority by way of rent or rates; or

(c) such a payment or payments and such a reduction;

and in any enactment or instrument (whenever passed or made) “pay”, in relation to housing benefit, includes discharge in any of those forms.”

(2) Subsection (1) above shall be deemed to have come into force on 1st April 1988.

15 Housing benefit subsidy

(1) In section 30 of the 1986 Act, in subsection (2) (computation etc of housing benefit subsidy) the words following paragraph (b), other than those added by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, shall cease to have effect and after that subsection there shall be inserted—

“(2A) In relation to rent allowance subsidy, the Secretary of State—

(a) may specify any such additions and deductions as are referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above, and

(b) may exercise his discretion as to what is unreasonable for the purposes of paragraph (b) of that subsection,

by reference to determinations made by rent officers in exercise of functions conferred on them under section 121 of the Housing Act 1988 or section 70 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 (“the Housing Act functions”).

(2B) The Secretary of State may by regulations require a local authority in any prescribed case to apply to a rent officer for a determination to be made in pursuance of the Housing Act functions and any such authority shall comply with prescribed requirements as to the time for making such an application.

(2C) Where a local authority would have been required to apply to a rent officer for a determination under the Housing Act functions in a pre-commencement case, had the first regulations under subsection (2B) above come into force on 1st April 1989, regulations may make provision—

(a) requiring the authority in prescribed circumstances to apply within a prescribed period to the rent officer for that determination to be made; and

(b) requiring the rent officer in prescribed circumstances to make that determination on prescribed assumptions;

and in this subsection “pre-commencement case” means any case which arises before the date on which the first regulations under subsection (2B) above in fact come into force.”

(2) For subsection (8) of that section (conditions for payment of subsidy) there shall be substituted the following—

“(8) Subsidy under this section shall be payable by the Secretary of State at such time and in such manner as the Treasury may direct.

(8A) Subsidy shall not be payable to an authority until either—

(a) they have made a claim for it in such form as the Secretary of State may determine; or

(b) if they have not made such a claim, the amount of subsidy payable to them (apart from subsection (8F) below) has been estimated under subsection (8C) below.

(8B) The Secretary of State may withhold from an authority so much of any subsidy under this section as he thinks fit until either—

(a) the authority has supplied him with prescribed particulars relating to their claim for subsidy and complied with prescribed conditions as to records, certificates, audit or otherwise; or

(b) he is satisfied that there is a good reason for the authority’s failure to supply those particulars or comply with those conditions.

(8C) If an authority has not—

(a) made a claim for subsidy,

(b) supplied the prescribed particulars referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (8B) above, or

(c) complied with the prescribed conditions referred to in that paragraph,

within the prescribed period, then the Secretary of State may estimate the amount of subsidy payable to them (apart from subsection (8F) below) and may employ for that purpose such criteria as he considers relevant.

(8D) If the Secretary of State considers it reasonable to do so in any particular case, he may give the authority in question written notice extending any of the periods prescribed under subsection (8C) above for the purposes of paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of that subsection, as the case may be.

(8E) If an authority fails to make a claim for subsidy within such period as the Secretary of State considers reasonable, he may withhold from them such part of the subsidy as he thinks fit for so long as he thinks fit.

(8F) Where the amount of subsidy paid to an authority for any year is found to be incorrect, the amount payable to them for any subsequent year may be adjusted for the purpose of rectifying that mistake in whole or in part.”

16 Expenses of Secretary of State in making transitional payments relating to income support and housing benefit

(1) Any expenses of the Secretary of State in making payments to persons falling within subsection (2) or (3) below may be paid out of money provided by Parliament.

(2) A person falls within this subsection if—

(a) he was entitled to supplementary benefit immediately before 11th April 1988, but

(b) he did not become entitled to income support in respect of the week beginning with that day.

(3) A person falls within this subsection if he was entitled to any one or more of the former housing-related benefits in respect of a qualifying week but either—

(a) he did not become entitled to housing benefit under Part II of the 1986 Act in respect of the commencement week, or

(b) the amount of any such housing benefit to which he became entitled in respect of that week was less than the amount of the former housing-related benefits to which he had been entitled in respect of the qualifying week.

(4) In this section—

• “commencement day” means the day on which the new provisions came into force in the case of the person in question (1st or 4th April 1988, according to the circumstances);

• “commencement week”, in relation to any person, means the week beginning with the commencement day in his case;

• “the former housing-related benefits” means—

  (a)

  rent rebates, rate rebates and rent allowances, within the meaning of Part II of the 1982 Act; and

  (b)

  housing benefit supplement;

• “the new provisions” means the following provisions of Part II of the 1986 Act, so far as relating to housing benefit, that is to say, sections 20 to 22, 28 and 29;

• “qualifying week”, in relation to any person, means any week beginning on or after 21st March 1988 and ending before the commencement day in his case;

• “week” means a period of seven days.

(5) For the purposes of this section—

(a) a person shall be regarded as having been entitled to housing benefit supplement in respect of a week if an amount was applicable in respect of him under regulation 19 of the [S. I. 1983/1399.] Supplementary Benefit (Requirements) Regulations 1983 in respect of that week; and

(b) the amount of housing benefit supplement to which he was entitled in respect of that week shall be taken to be an amount equal to the amount so applicable.