The Healthy Start Scheme and Welfare Food (Amendment) Regulations 2005

PART III Vouchers

Issue of voucher

8.—(1) For each week that a beneficiary is entitled to benefit under regulations 3 and 4 the Secretary of State shall issue or cause to be issued to that beneficiary a voucher to enable the beneficiary to obtain the benefit to which she is entitled.

(2) The period of validity of the voucher shall be not less than four weeks and not more than six months from the date of issue of the voucher.

(3) The value represented by the voucher in respect of which the voucher may be exchanged under regulation 9 for Healthy Start food is £2.80.

(4) The Secretary of State shall ensure that the following are indicated on the face of the voucher:

(a) the value represented by the voucher;

(b) a description of Healthy Start food; and

(c) the period of validity of the voucher.

Use of voucher

9.—(1) A beneficiary may within the period of its validity exchange a voucher for Healthy Start food.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), a voucher issued to a beneficiary may be used only by the beneficiary for whom it was issued.

(3) A voucher issued to a beneficiary who is a child who is breast-fed by her mother may be exchanged for Healthy Start food for consumption by the mother.

(4) No person shall buy or sell or otherwise use—

(a) a voucher; or

(b) Healthy Start food supplied in exchange for a voucher;

except in accordance with these Regulations.

Failure to receive benefit represented by the voucher

10.—(1) If a beneficiary fails to receive benefit as a result of a failure to receive a voucher, she may, in accordance with paragraph (3), so notify in writing the Secretary of State for the purposes of paragraph (4) of this regulation.

(2) If a beneficiary who is entitled to benefit under regulations 3 and 4 receives a voucher in accordance with regulation 8, and

(a) the voucher is lost or stolen or accidentally destroyed before it is exchanged for Healthy Start food; or

(b) there is no food outlet within a reasonable distance of the beneficiary’s home; or

(c) the beneficiary is a child under the age of one year and there is no food outlet within a reasonable distance of the child’s home at which a voucher can be exchanged for Healthy Start food consisting of infant formula as described in Schedule 3;

the beneficiary may, in accordance with paragraph (3), so notify in writing the Secretary of State for the purposes of this regulation.

(3) A beneficiary who so notifies in the circumstances described—

(a) in paragraph (1) must, in the case of the first voucher pursuant to a claim, do so within twelve weeks of the date she submitted her claim to the Secretary of State or, in any other case, within four weeks of the date of expiry of her last voucher;

(b) in paragraph (2) must do so before expiry of the period of validity of the voucher.

(4) If the Secretary of State is satisfied—

(a) on a notification pursuant to paragraph (1) or otherwise, that a beneficiary did not receive a voucher because of some act or omission on the part of the Secretary of State or Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs(1),

(b) on a notification pursuant to paragraph (2)(a), that the voucher has been lost or stolen or accidentally destroyed, or

(c) on a notification pursuant to paragraph (2)(b) or (c), that there is no food outlet within a reasonable distance of the beneficiary’s home or no such food outlet at which a voucher can be exchanged for Healthy Start food consisting of infant formula as described in Schedule 3,

she shall either, as she considers appropriate, issue or cause to be issued to that beneficiary a voucher or pay the beneficiary an amount equal to the value represented by the voucher.

Property in voucher

11.—(1) Every voucher is and shall remain the property of the Secretary of State.

(2) Any person in possession of a voucher shall, if so requested by the Secretary of State, produce or deliver it to the Secretary of State within such time and to such place as the Secretary of State may direct in writing.

(1)

See section 4(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (c. 11).