The Social Security (Child Maintenance Bonus) Regulations 1996

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Child Maintenance Bonus) Regulations 1996 and shall come into force on 7th April 1997.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Child Support Act 1995;

“applicant”, except where regulation 8 (retirement) applies, means the person claiming the bonus;

“appropriate office” means an office of the Department of Social Security or the Department for Education and Employment;

“benefit week”—

(a)

where the relevant benefit is income support, has the meaning it has in the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987(1) by virtue of regulation 2(1) of those Regulations; or

(b)

where the relevant benefit is a jobseeker’s allowance, has the meaning it has in the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996(2) by virtue of regulation l(3) of those Regulations;

“bonus” means a child maintenance bonus;

“bonus period” comprises the days specified in regulation 4;

“child maintenance” means any of the following payments made on or after 7th April 1997—

(a)

child support maintenance;

(b)

maintenance paid by an absent parent to a parent with care of a qualifying child under an agreement (whether enforceable or not) between them or by virtue of an order of a court;

(c)

maintenance deducted from any benefit payable to an absent parent who is liable to maintain a qualifying child,

but does not include any maintenance paid in respect of a former partner;

“couple” means a married or an unmarried couple;

“income-based jobseeker’s allowance” has the same meaning as in the Jobseekers Act by virtue of section 1(4) of that Act;

“the Jobseekers Act” means the Jobseekers Act 1995(3);

“jobseeker’s allowance” means an income-based Jobseeker’s allowance;

“partner” means where a person, whether an applicant or otherwise,—

(a)

is a member of a married or unmarried couple, the other member of that couple;

(b)

is married polygamously to two or more members of his household, any such member; or

(c)

is a member of a marriage to which section 133(1)(b) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (polygamous marriages) refers and the other party to the marriage has one or more additional spouses, the other party;

“work condition” means the condition specified at regulation 3(1)(c).

(3) Expressions used in these Regulations and in the Child Support Act 1991 have the same meaning in these Regulations as they have in that Act

(4) For the purposes of these Regulations, the qualifying benefits are a jobseeker’s allowance and income support.

(5) In these Regulations, where—

(a) a payment is made in any benefit week by an absent parent to a person with care;

(b) the absent parent pays both child maintenance and maintenance for the person with care; and

(c) there is no evidence as to which form of maintenance that payment is intended to represent,

the first £5 of any such payment or, where the amount of payment is less than £5, that amount shall be treated as if it was a payment of child maintenance.

(6) For the purposes of these Regulations, child maintenance is treated as payable where it is paid under an agreement which is not enforceable

(7) Where a person is entitled to a qualifying benefit on any day but no qualifying benefit is payable to her in respect of that day, that person shall be treated for the purposes of these Regulations as not entitled to a qualifying benefit for that day

(8) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference—

(a) to a numbered section is to the section of the Act bearing that number;

(b) to a numbered regulation is to the regulation in these Regulations bearing that number;

(c) in a regulation to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph in that regulation bearing that number;

(d) in a paragraph to a lettered or numbered sub-paragraph is to the sub-paragraph in that paragraph bearing that letter or number.

(1)

S.I. 1987/1967.

(2)

S.I. 1996/207.

(3)

1995 c. 18.