The Income-related Benefits Schemes and Social Fund (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1996

Amendment of the Council Tax Benefit Regulations

2.—(1) The Council Tax Benefit Regulations shall be amended in accordance with the following paragraphs.

(2) In paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (interpretation) after the definition of “housing benefit”there shall be inserted the following definition—

““immigration authorities” in regulation 4A(4) (persons from abroad)(1) means an adjudicator, an immigration officer or an immigration appeal tribunal appointed for the purposes of the Immigration Act 1971(2) and in addition means the Secretary of State;”.

(3) In regulation 4A (persons from abroad)—

(a) in paragraph (3)(a) the words “, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man” shall be omitted;

(b) in paragraph (4)(e) for the words from “the Republic of Ireland” to “the Isle of Man” there shall be substituted the words “the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland”.

(4) In paragraph (3)(e) of regulation 35 (diminishing notional capital rule) after the words “in respect of the” there shall be inserted the words “whole or part of the”.

(5) In regulation 38 (students interpretation)—

(a) for the definitions of “contribution”, “course of study”, “full-time student” and “standard maintenance grant”, there shall be respectively substituted the following definitions—

““contribution” means any contribution in respect of the income of any other person which the Secretary of State or an education authority takes into account in ascertaining the amount of the student’s grant, or any sums, which in determining the amount of a student’s allowance or bursary in Scotland under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992(3), the Secretary of State or the education authority takes into account being sums which the Secretary of State or the education authority consider that the holder of the allowance or bursary, the holder’s parents and the holder’s spouse can reasonably be expected to contribute towards the holder’s expenses;”;

““course of study” means any course of study, whether or not it is a sandwich course and whether or not a grant is made for attending or undertaking it and for the purposes of this definition a person who has started a course of study shall be treated as attending or undertaking it, as the case may be, until the last day of the course or such earlier date as he abandons it or is dismissed from it;”;

““full-time student” means a person attending or undertaking a full-time course of study and includes a student on a sandwich course;”;

““standard maintenance grant” means—

(a)

except where paragraph (b) or (c) applies, in the case of a student attending a course of study at the University of London or an establishment within the area comprising the City of London and the Metropolitan Police District, the amount specified for the time being in paragraph 2(2)(a) of Schedule 2 to the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1995(4) (“the 1995 Regulations”) for such a student;

(b)

except where paragraph (c) applies, in the case of a student residing at his parent’s home, the amount specified in paragraph 3(2) thereof;

(c)

in the case of a student receiving an allowance or bursary under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, the amount of money specified as “standard maintenance allowance” for the relevant year appropriate for the student set out in the Guide to Undergraduate allowances issued by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, or its nearest equivalent in the case of a bursary as set by the local education authority;

(d)

in any other case, the amount specified in paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 2 to the 1995 Regulations other than in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) thereof;”;

(b) the following definitions shall be inserted in the appropriate places—

““college of further education” means a college of further education within the meaning of Part I of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992(5);”;

““education authority” means a government department, a local education authority as defined in section 114 of the Education Act 1944(6), a local education authority as defined in section 123 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973(7), an education and library board established under article 3 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986(8), any body which is a research council for the purposes of the Science and Technologies Act 1965(9) or any analogous government department, authority, board or body of the Channel Islands, Isle of Man or any other country outside Great Britain;”;

““the FEFC” means the Further Education Funding Council for England or the Further Education Funding Council for Wales;”;

““full-time course of study” means a full-time course of study which—

(a)

is not funded in whole or in part by the FEFC or a full-time course of study (not being higher education) which is not funded in whole or in part by the Secretary of State for Scotland at a college of further education;

(b)

is funded in whole or in part by the FEFC and involves more than 16 guided learning hours per week for the student in question, according to the number of guided learning hours per week for that student set out in the case of a course funded by the FEFC for England, in his learning agreement signed on behalf of the establishment which is funded by the FEFC for the delivery of that course or, in the case of a course funded by the FEFC for Wales, in a document signed on behalf of the establishment which is funded by the FEFC for the delivery of that course; or

(c)

is not higher education and is funded in whole or in part by the Secretary of State for Scotland at a college of further education and involves—

(i)

more than 16 hours per week of classroom-based or workshop-based programmed learning under the direct guidance of teaching staff according to the number of hours set out in a document signed on behalf of the college; or

(ii)

16 hours or less per week of classroom-based or workshop-based programmed learning under the direct guidance of teaching staff and it involves additional hours using structured learning packages supported by the teaching staff where the combined total of hours exceeds 21 hours per week, according to the number of hours set out in a document signed on behalf of the college;”;

““higher education” means higher education within the meaning of Part II of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992;”;

(c) in the definition of—

(i) “covenant income” the words “including any sum deducted from the gross amount for tax”shall be omitted;

(ii) “grant” for the words “sections 131 and 132 of the Education Reform Act 1988” there shall be substituted the words “section 65 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992(10)” and at the end there shall be added the words “or section 40 of the Higher and Further Education (Scotland) Act 1992”;

(iii) “periods of experience” for the words “Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1991”there shall be substituted the words “Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1995(11)”;

(iv) “sandwich course” for the words “Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1991” there shall be substituted the words “Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1995”.

(6) In regulation 40 (students who are excluded from entitlement to council tax benefit)—

(a) in paragraph (2) for the words “to whom regulation 41(1) refers (students from abroad)”there shall be substituted the words “who are persons from abroad within the meaning of regulation 4A (persons from abroad)”;

(b) in paragraph (3) for the words “regulation 41(2)” there shall be substituted the words “regulation 4A(2)”.

(7) In paragraph (2) of regulation 42 (calculation of grant income)—

(a) sub-paragraph (b) shall be omitted; and

(b) in sub-paragraph (g) the words “(other than special equipment)” shall be omitted.

(8) In paragraph (1) of regulation 43 (calculation of covenant income where a contribution is assessed) the words “and the amount deducted by way of tax in respect of that income” shall be omitted.

(9) Sub-paragraph (d) of paragraph (1) of regulation 44 (covenant income where no grant income or no contribution is assessed) shall be omitted.

(1)

Regulation 4A was inserted by S.I. 1994/470; relevant amending instrument S.I. 1994/1807.

(2)

1971 c. 77.

(3)

1992 c. 37.

(4)

S.I. 1995/3321.

(5)

1992 c. 37.

(6)

1944 c. 31, as amended by S.I. 1974/595 and 1977/293.

(7)

1973 c. 65.

(8)

S.I. 1986/594 (N.I.).

(9)

1965 c. 4.

(10)

1992 c. 13.

(11)

S.I. 1995/3321.