Section 51: Allocations from the social fund
Under section 147 of the Administration Act the Department allocates money out of which social fund payments may be made under section 134(1)(b) of the Contributions and Benefits Act.
The money available is limited. There is one budget for loans and one for grants. The budgets are currently allocated to offices for the purpose of making payments of loans and grants to the customers in their geographical area. The intention is that there should be flexibility as to how allocations are made and, in particular, it should be clear that it is open to the Department to make a single allocation from which loans may be made. The amendments to section 147 by section 51 will give that clarity and flexibility.