National Assistance Act 1948

Provision of Accommodation.

21 Duty of local authorities to provide accommodation.

(1) It shall be the duty of every local authority, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this Part of this Act, to provide—

(a) residential accommodation for persons who by reason of age, infirmity or any other circumstances are in need of care and attention which is not otherwise available to them;

(b) temporary accommodation for persons who are in urgent need thereof, being need arising in circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen or in such other circumstances as the authority may in any particular case determine.

(2) In the exercise of their said duty a local authority shall have regard to the welfare of all persons for whom accommodation is provided, and in particular to the need for providing accommodation of different descriptions suited to different descriptions of such persons as are mentioned in the last foregoing subsection.

(3) A local authority shall exercise their functions under this section in accordance with a scheme made thereunder.

(4) Accommodation provided by a local authority in the exercise of their said functions shall be provided in premises managed by the authority or, to such extent as may be specified in the scheme under this section, in such premises managed by another local authority as may be agreed between the two authorities and on such terms, including terms as to the reimbursement of expenditure incurred by the said other authority, as may be so agreed.

(5) References in this Act to accommodation provided under this Part thereof shall be construed as references to accommodation provided in accordance with this and the five next following sections, and as including references to board and other services, amenities and requisites provided in connection with the accommodation except where in the opinion of the authority managing the premises their provision is unnecessary.

(6) References in this Act to a local authority providing accommodation shall be construed, in any case where a local authority agree with another local authority for the provision of accommodation in premises managed by the said other authority, as references to the first-mentioned local authority.

(7) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this section, a local authority may—

(a) provide, in such cases as they may consider appropriate, for the conveyance of persons to and from premises in which accommodation is provided for them under this Part of the Act;

(b) themselves provide on the premises in which accommodation is being provided such health services, not being specialist services or services of a kind normally provided only on admission to a hospital, as appear to the authority requisite and as may be specified in the scheme under this section;

(c) arrange for the provision on the premises of local health services.

In this subsection the expression " local health services " means the like services as are provided under Part III of the [9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 81.] National Health Service Act, 1946, or of the [10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 27.] National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 1947, for persons in their own homes; and a local health authority for the purposes of the said Part III shall by virtue of this subsection have power to provide any local health services to which arrangements under this subsection relate.

(8) Save as provided in the last foregoing subsection, nothing in this section shall authorise or require a local authority to make any provision authorised or required to be made (whether by that or by any other authority) by or under any enactment not contained in this Part of this Act.

22 Charges to be made for accommodation.

(1) Persons for whom accommodation is provided under this Part of this Act shall pay for the accommodation in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

(2) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the payment for any such accommodation shall be in accordance with a standard rate fixed for that accommodation by the authority managing the premises in which it is provided.

(3) Where a person for whom accommodation in premises managed by any local authority is provided, or proposed to be provided, under this Part of this Act satisfies the local authority that he is unable to pay therefor at the standard rate, the authority shall assess his ability to pay (apart from any supplementation of his resources which he will receive under Part II of this Act), and accordingly determine at what lower rate he shall be liable to pay for the accommodation:

Provided that the liability shall in no case be reduced below such sum per week as may be prescribed by the Minister.

(4) In assessing for the purposes of the last foregoing subsection a person's ability to pay, a local authority shall assume that he will need for his personal requirements such sum per week as may be prescribed by the Minister, or such other sum as in special circumstances the authority may consider appropriate.

(5) In assessing as aforesaid a person's ability to pay, a local authority shall give effect to the relevant provisions of the Second Schedule to this Act.

(6) Where temporary accommodation is provided for a person for less than a week, or it appears to the authority managing the premises in which temporary accommodation is being provided for a person that by reason of special circumstances charges therefor cannot appropriately be made in accordance with the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) of this section, those provisions shall not apply but the said person shall pay for the accommodation at such rate as the local authority may determine.

(7) Where accommodation is provided for a child accompanied by a person over the age of sixteen, the foregoing provisions of this section shall have effect subject to the following modifications:—

(a) in respect of the accommodation provided for the child payment shall be made by the person by whom the child is accompanied,

(b) the personal requirements of the child shall be treated as personal requirements of the person by whom the child is accompanied, and for the purposes of subsection (4) of this section the fact that that person is accompanying the child may be treated as special circumstances.

(8) Where accommodation is provided by a local authority in premises managed by another local authority, the payment therefor under this section shall be made to the authority managing the premises and not to the authority providing accommodation, but the authority managing the premises shall account for the payment to the authority providing the accommodation.

(9) Where the whole or part of a liability arising under this section is taken into account by the Board in making an assistance grant, and the person receiving the grant fails to pay any sum due from him under this section, the Board may, in lieu of issuing the whole of the grant to the person to whom it is made, issue to the local authority concerned, in or towards the satisfaction of the liability, so much of the grant as relates to that liability.

23 Management of premises in which accommodation provided.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, a local authority may make rules as to the conduct of premises under their management in which accommodation is provided under this Part of this Act and as to the preservation of order in the premises.

(2) Rules under this section may provide that where by reason of any change in a person s circumstances he is no longer qualified to receive accommodation under this Part of this Act or where a person has otherwise become unsuitable therefor, he may be required by the local authority managing the premises to leave the premises in which the accommodation is provided.

(3) Rules under this section may provide for the waiving of part of the payments due under the last foregoing section where in compliance with the rules persons for whom accommodation is provided assist in the running of the premises.

24 Authority liable for provision of accommodation.

(1) The local authority liable under this Part of this Act to provide residential accommodation for any person shall subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act be the authority in whose area the person is ordinarily resident

(2) The local authority liable under this Part of this Act to provide temporary accommodation for any person shall be the authority in whose area the person is.

(3) Where a person in the area of a local authority—

(a) is a person with no settled residence, or

(b) not being ordinarily resident in the area of the local authority, is in urgent need of residential accommodation under this Part of this Act,

the authority shall have the like duty to provide residential accommodation for him as if he were ordinarily resident in their area.

(4) Subject to and in accordance with the scheme under section twenty-one of this Act, a local authority shall have power, as respects a person ordinarily resident in the area of another local authority, with the consent of that other authority to provide residential accommodation for him in any case where the authority would have a duty to provide such accommodation if he were ordinarily resident in their area.

(5) Where a person is provided with residential accommodation under this Part of this Act, he shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to continue to be ordinarily resident in the area in which he was ordinarily resident immediately before the residential accommodation was provided for him.

25 Power of Board to require provision of accommodation in urgent cases.

(1) Where the Board are satisfied that a person in the area of a local authority is in urgent need of accommodation under this Part of this Act, the Board may require the local authority to provide such accommodation for him.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in section twenty-three of this Act or the rules made thereunder, where accommodation is being provided for a person in compliance with a requirement under the last foregoing subsection, he shall not be required to leave the premises in which the accommodation is provided except with the consent of the Board or, where the Board refuse to give consent, with the consent of the Appeal Tribunal.

(3) Where a local authority are aggrieved by any requirement made by the Board under subsection (1) of this section, the authority may, but without prejudice to their duty to comply with the requirement in the meanwhile, appeal to the Appeal Tribunal, and on any such appeal the Tribunal may cancel or confirm the requirement of the Board.

26 Provision of accommodation in premises maintained by voluntary organisations.

(1) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act, a scheme under section twenty-one thereof may provide for the making by a local authority, in lieu or in supplementation of the provision of accommodation in premises managed by them or another local authority, of arrangements with a voluntary organisation managing any premises for the provision of accommodation in those premises.

(2) Any such arrangements as aforesaid shall provide for the making by the local authority to the organisation of payments in respect, of the accommodation provided at such rates as may be determined by or under the arrangements.

(3) A person for whom accommodation is provided under any such arrangements shall, in lieu of being liable to make payment therefor in accordance with section twenty-two of this Act, refund to the local authority any payments made in respect of him under the last foregoing subsection:

Provided that where a person for whom accommodation is provided, or proposed to be provided, under any such arrangements satisfies the local authority that he is unable to make a refund at the full rate determined under that subsection, subsections (3) to (5) of section twenty-two of this Act shall, with the necessary modifications, apply as they apply where a person satisfies the local authority of his inability to pay at the standard rate as mentioned in the said subsection (3).

(4) Subsections (6), (7) and (9) of the said section twenty-two shall, with the necessary modifications, apply for the purposes of the last foregoing subsection as they apply for the purposes of the said section twenty-two.

(5) Where in any premises accommodation is being provided under subsection (1) of this section in accordance with arrangements made by -any local authority, any person authorised in that behalf -by the authority may at all reasonable times enter and inspect the premises.

(6) A local authority may make contributions to the funds of any voluntary organisation providing, or proposing to provide, accommodation for the like purposes as accommodation provided by a local authority under the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act.

(7) In this section the expression "voluntary organisation" includes any association which is a housing association for the purposes of the [26 Geo. 5. & 1 Edw. 8. c. 51.] Housing Act, 1936, or the Housing (Scotland) Acts, 1925 to 1946.

27 Investigation of resources etc. by Board.

A local authority may refer to the Board for investigation any question arising as to the resources or other circumstances of a person applying for accommodation under this Part of this Act or for whom such accommodation is being provided.

28 Exchequer contributions to local authorities.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Minister shall make annual contributions to local authorities in respect of premises provided by them for the purposes of the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act, being premises provided in accordance with proposals approved by the Minister and used in accordance with any conditions subject to which the proposals were approved.

(2) It shall be a condition of the making of contributions under this section in respect of any premises—

(a) that the premises are for the time being used or available for the provision therein of accommodation under this Part of this Act; and either

(b) that the construction of the premises, and of any other premises forming part of the same building, was begun on or after the thirty-first day of October, 1947; or

(c) that the premises were acquired on or after that day.

(3) Annual contributions under this section in respect of any premises falling within paragraph (b) of the last foregoing subsection shall be made for such period not exceeding sixty years as the Minister may determine, being a period beginning with the completion of the premises, and shall be of the following amounts, that is to say—

(a) in respect of each single bedroom comprised in the premises which is intended for the provision of accommodation under this Part of this Act, the sum of seven pounds ten shillings;

(b) in respect of each other bedroom comprised in the premises which is intended for the provision of accommodation under this Part of this Act,, such sum not exceeding six pounds ten shillings as may be prescribed by the Minister, multiplied by the number of persons for whose occupation the room is intended.

(4) Annual contributions under this section in respect of any premises falling within paragraph (c) of subsection (2) thereof shall be made for such period not exceeding sixty years as the Minister may determine, being a period beginning with the time when the adaptation of the premises was completed, or if no adaptation was required with the date of the acquisition of the premises, and shall be of an amount not exceeding the amount specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of the last foregoing subsection and not exceeding two-thirds of the difference between—

(a) the estimated average annual payments falling to be made by the local authority in question in respect of the charges on account of loans raised by the authority for the purpose of acquiring or adapting the premises, or which would have fallen to be so made if the sums expended by the local authority for the said purpose had been raised by means of loans, and

(b) such sum as may be prescribed by the Minister multiplied by the number of persons for whose accommodation under this Part of this Act provision is made in the premises.

The sum to be prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be of an amount equal to fifty-two times such part of the sum prescribed under the proviso to subsection (3) of section twenty-two of this Act as may be determined by the Minister to represent payment in respect of the use of the premises.

(5) In the last foregoing subsection references to adaptation are references to adaptation for the provision of accommodation under this Part of this Act, and do not include references to any adaptation carried out after the premises in question have been brought into use for the provision of such accommodation.

(6) Where a local authority enters into arrangements under section twenty-six of this Act with any such association as is mentioned in subsection (7) of that section, the local authority shall be entitled to receive the like contributions (if any) under this section in respect of any premises to which the arrangements relate as if the premises had been provided by the local authority, but where a local authority receive contributions by virtue of this subsection as respects any year the local authority shall as respects that year make under subsection (6) of the said section twenty-six contributions to the association of amounts not less than the contributions under this section received by the authority.

(7) Where at any time after the coming into operation of this section the Minister proposes to make an order under section sixteen of the [9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 48.] Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1946 (which, provides for the periodical review of contributions under the Housing Acts, 1936 to 1946) he shall consider the relation of the foregoing provisions of this section to the provisions as to contributions of the Housing Acts. 1936 to 1946, and an order under the said section sixteen may provide, in relation to contributions under this section or any class of such contributions, for reducing the amount of the contributions or the period for which they are payable, or both that amount and that period, to such extent, if any, as appears to the Minister to be requisite having regard to any reduction to be effected by the order of contributions under the said Acts of 1936 to 1940 and of the number of years for which those contributions are to be paid.

(8) In the application of this section to Scotland—

(a) subsection (1) shall have effect as if at the end thereof there were added the following proviso—

“Provided that no contribution shall be payable under this subsection in respect of any premises in respect of which a contribution is payable by the Secretary of State under any other enactment”;

(b) for the references in subsection (3) to seven pounds ten shillings and to six pounds ten shillings there shall be substituted respectively references to eleven pounds and to nine pounds ten shillings;

(c) for the references to the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1946, and to section sixteen thereof there shall be respectively substituted references to the [9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 54.] Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act, 1946, and to section fourteen thereof;

(d) for the references to the Housing Acts, 1936 to 1946, there shall be substituted references to the Housing (Scotland) Acts, 1925 to 1946.