25. Except as provided by article 26, any decision given by the Administrative Board on a claim or question under provisions of the Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme 1966 in force immediately before 1st July 1977(1) or under any scheme made under the Industrial Diseases (Benefit) Acts in force immediately before 1st March 1966 shall be final for the purposes of this scheme.
26.—(1) The insurance officer may at any time and from time to time review any decision given by the Administrative Board under provisions of the Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme 1966 in force immediately before 1st July 1977 (2), if—
(a)the decision was erroneous in view of new facts which have been brought to his notice since the date on which the decision was given or by reason of some mistake being made with respect to the facts or the law; or
(b)there has been any relevant change of circumstances since the decision was given.
(2) The claimant or the Secretary of State may raise a question with a view to the review of any decision of the Administrative Board by application in writing to the insurance officer stating the grounds of the application.
(3) Where it appears to the Secretary of State that a question has arisen whether the award of an allowance to which this article relates ought to be revised in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1), he may direct that the payment of the allowance shall be suspended in whole or in part until the question has been determined, but if he does so he shall forthwith refer the question to the insurance officer for determination in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(4) Any question arising in connection with the review to which this article applies shall be determined and, if appropriate, the decision revised and an allowance awarded or paid in accordance with the provisions in force when the original decision was given.
(5) Where on a review to which this article applies a decision of the Administrative Board is revised so as to make an allowance payable or to increase the rate of an allowance, the decision given on review shall, subject to paragraph (6), have effect from the date of the application for the review or from such earlier date as appears to the appropriate determining authority to be reasonable in the circumstances.
(6) Benefit shall not, by virtue of paragraph (5), become payable from a date earlier than the earliest date from which it could have been payable had it been awarded in the decision begin reviewed.
(7) A decision given on review under this article, and a refusal to review a decision thereunder, shall be subject to appeal to the local tribunal and the Commissioner on the grounds set out in paragraph (1)(a) and (b).
(8) Where a decision is revised on review under this article, the decision given on review shall, subject to the provisions of the next succeeding paragraph, require repayment to the National Insurance Fund of any sums paid by way of an allowance in pursuance of the original decision to the extent to which they would not have been payable if the decision on the review had been given in the first instance.
(9) Notwithstanding the provision of the last preceding paragraph of this article, repayment of sums by way of an allowance in pursuance of the original decision shall not be required under this article in any case where it is shown to the satisfaction of the appropriate determining authority that in the obtaining and receipt of the benefit the beneficiary, and any person acting for him, has throughout used due care and diligence to avoid overpayment.
(10) For the purposes of this article a decision given under any scheme made under the Industrial Diseases (Benefit) Acts shall be treated as if it had been a decision given under the Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme 1966 as it was immediately before 1st July 1977.
(11) On the review of a decision given by the Administrative Board under any scheme made under the Industrial Diseases (Benefit) Acts in force before 1st March 1966 a decision given by an insurance officer on any question referred to him for determination under any such scheme may be reviewed by such an insurance officer in accordance with the provisions of that scheme.
27. A claim may be made in respect of a period before the coming into operation of this scheme for an allowance payable by virtue of any scheme revoked by this scheme, or any scheme made under the Industrial Diseases (Benefit) Acts, and such a claim and any question arising in connection therewith shall be determined by the appropriate determining authority, and any allowance in respect of such a period shall be awarded and paid in accordance with the provisions of the appropriate scheme in force during that period.
28. Any allowance under this scheme may be paid without any claim or award or awarded without any claim if, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, evidence of the satisfaction of the conditions for that allowance is afforded by the award, in respect of a period before the coming into operation of this scheme, of an allowance payable by virtue of a scheme revoked by this scheme or a scheme made under the Industrial Diseases (Benefit) Acts, or of an allowance under the Workmen's Compensation and Benefit (Supplementation) Act 1956.
29. Any beneficiary who is entitled under the provisions of section 3(2) or (3) of the Workmen's Compensation and Benefit (Amendment) Act 1965 to payment of a greater amount or aggregate amount than he is entitled to receive by way of allowances under this scheme and any other scheme made under the Act shall, so long as he is so entitled, be paid by way of increase to the allowance or, if more than one, the largest allowance to which he is entitled under this scheme, such a sum as will, in addition to the allowances payable to him by virtue of this scheme and any other scheme made under the Act, ensure that the total amount or aggregate amount payable to him is the amount to which he is entitled by virtue of the said section 3(2) or (3).
See S.I. 1977/992, article 5.
See S.I. 1977/992, article 8.