The Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001

PART I GENERAL

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001 and shall come into force on 2nd July 2001.

(2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

“the Act” means the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000;

“the Administration Act” means the Social Security Administration Act 1992;

“appeal” means an appeal to an appeal tribunal;

“appropriate relevant authority” has the meaning it has in paragraph 4 of Schedule 7 to the Act;

“benefit week” means a period of seven consecutive days commencing on a Monday and ending on a Sunday;

“claimant” means a person claiming housing benefit or council tax benefit or both;

“clerk to an appeal tribunal” means a clerk assigned to an appeal tribunal in accordance with regulation 37 of the Decisions and Appeals Regulations 1999;

“Council Tax Benefit Regulations” means the Council Tax Benefit (General) Regulations 1992(1);

“Decisions and Appeals Regulations 1999” means the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999(2);

“designated authority” has the meaning it has in regulation 2(1) of the Work-focused Interviews Regulations;

“financially qualified panel member” means a panel member who is an accountant and a member of—

(a)

the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales;

(b)

the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland;

(c)

the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland;

(d)

the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants;

(e)

the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants; or

(f)

the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy;

“Housing Benefit Regulations” means the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987(3);

“legally qualified panel member” means a panel member who—

(a)

has a general qualification (construed in accordance with section 71 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990)(4); or

(b)

is an advocate or solicitor in Scotland;

“official error” means an error made by—

(a)

a relevant authority or a person—

(i)

authorised to carry out any function of a relevant authority relating to housing benefit or council tax benefit; or

(ii)

providing services relating to housing benefit or council tax benefit directly or indirectly to a relevant authority;

(b)

an officer of—

(i)

the Department of Social Security;

(ii)

the Commissioners of Inland Revenue; or

(iii)

the Department for Education and Employment,

acting as such;

(c)

a person employed by a designated authority acting on behalf of the authority,

but excludes any error caused wholly or partly by any person or body not specified in sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) of this definition and any error of law which is shown to have been an error only by virtue of a subsequent decision of a Commissioner (construed in accordance with paragraph 23(1) of Schedule 7 to the Act) or the court;

“panel member” means a person appointed to a panel constituted under section 6 of the Social Security Act 1998;

“partner” means—

(a)

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

(b)

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

“person affected” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 3;

“President” means the President of appeal tribunals appointed under section 5 of the Social Security Act 1998;

“principal parties” has the same meaning as in paragraph 7(4) of Schedule 7 to the Act;

“relevant authority” has the same meaning as in paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 7 to the Act;

“relevant decision” has the same meaning as in paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 7 to the Act;

“work-focused interview” has the same meaning as in regulation 3 of the Work-focused Interviews Regulations;

“the Work-focused Interviews Regulations” means the Social Security (Work-focused Interviews) Regulations 2000(5).

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

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

(b) in a regulation to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph in that regulation bearing that number.

Service of notices or documents

2.  Where, by, or in consequence of, any provision of these Regulations or Schedule 7 to the Act—

(a) any notice or other document is required to be given or sent to the clerk to an appeal tribunal, the Secretary of State or the relevant authority, that notice or document shall be treated as having been so given or sent on the day that it is received by the clerk to the appeal tribunal, the Secretary of State or the relevant authority, as the case may be; and

(b) any notice (including notification of a decision of a relevant authority) or other document is required to be given or sent to any person other than the clerk to an appeal tribunal, the Secretary of State or the relevant authority, as the case may be, that notice or document shall, if sent by post to that person’s last known address, be treated as having been so given or sent on the day it was posted.

Person treated as a person affected by a decision

3.—(1) For the purposes of Schedule 7 to the Act and subject to paragraph (2), a person is to be treated as a person affected by a relevant decision of a relevant authority where that person is—

(a) a claimant;

(b) in the case of a person who is liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling and is unable for the time being to act—

(i) a receiver appointed by the Court of Protection with power to claim, or as the case may be, receive benefit on his behalf,

(ii) in Scotland, a tutor, curator, judicial factor or other guardian acting or appointed in terms of law administering that person’s estate, or

(iii) an attorney with a general power or a power to receive benefit appointed by the person liable to make those payments under the Powers of Attorney Act 1971(6) or the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act 1985(7);

(c) a person appointed by the relevant authority under regulation 71(3) of the Housing Benefit Regulations or regulation 61(3) of the Council Tax Benefit Regulations (appointments for persons unable to act);

(d) a person from whom the relevant authority determines that an overpayment is recoverable in accordance with Part XIII of the Housing Benefit Regulations or excess benefit is recoverable in acordance with Part XI of the Council Tax Benefit Regulations; or

(e) a landlord or agent acting on behalf of that landlord and that decision is made under regulation 93 (circumstances in which payment is to be made to a landlord) or 94 (circumstances in which payment may be made to a landlord) of the Housing Benefit Regulations.

(2) Paragraph (1) only applies in relation to a person referred to in paragraph (1) where the rights, duties or obligations of that person are affected by a relevant decision.

(1)

S.I. 1992/1814.

(2)

S.I. 1999/991; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1999/1466 and 2000/1596.

(3)

S.I. 1987/1971.

(4)

1990 c. 41.

(5)

S.I. 2000/897.

(6)

1971 c. 77.

(7)

1985 c. 29.