24Payments of statutory sick pay wrongly made
(1)Regulations may make provision for the payment to an employer, by the Secretary of State and in prescribed circumstances, of an amount calculated in accordance with the regulations in any case where—
(a)a payment purporting to be a payment of statutory sick pay (the " payment wrongly made ") has been made by that employer to a person (the " recipient"); and
(b)that employer was not liable to make that payment under this Part.
(2)Regulations may make provision, in relation to such a case, for the recovery by the Secretary of State from the recipient, in prescribed circumstances, of an amount calculated in accordance with the regulations.
(3)Regulations under this section may make such incidental and supplemental provision in relation to any payment made, or amount recovered, by the Secretary of State under the regulations as he considers expedient and may, in particular, provide—
(a)for any such payment to be treated as discharging, or in prescribed circumstances as partially discharging, any liability of the recipient to repay to the employer the payment wrongly made ;
(b)for any such payment to be treated, in prescribed circumstances, as a payment to the recipient of a prescribed benefit ("benefit" having the meaning given by the regulations).
(4)In this section "employer" includes a person believing himself to be an employer of the recipient in question.
(5)Any payment made by the Secretary of State in accordance with regulations under this section shall be paid out of the National Insurance Fund and any amount recovered by him in accordance with the regulations shall be paid by him into that Fund.