Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018

Top up of reserved benefits

79 Power to provide for top up

(1) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations provide for financial assistance to be given to an individual who—

(a) is entitled to a reserved benefit, and

(b) appears to the Scottish Ministers to require financial assistance (in addition to any amount the individual receives by way of reserved benefit) for the purpose, or one of the purposes, for which the benefit is being provided.

(2) The power conferred by subsection (1) includes the power to make provision about—

(a) determining entitlement (including specifying further eligibility rules that are to be used to determine whether an individual is entitled to the assistance),

(b) the amount of assistance,

(c) applications for assistance,

(d) obtaining information,

(e) appeals,

(f) assistance given in error.

(3) In this section and section 80, “reserved benefit” means a benefit which is to any extent a reserved matter within the meaning of schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998.

80 Restrictions on power

(1) Regulations under section 79 may not provide for financial assistance to be given to meet or help to meet housing costs.

(2) Regulations under section 79 may not provide for financial assistance to be given where the need for the assistance arises solely from reduction, non-payability or suspension of a reserved benefit as a result of an individual’s conduct (for example, non-compliance with work-related requirements relating to the benefit).

(3) But subsection (2) does not prevent assistance from being given where the need for the assistance in question—

(a) also arises from some exceptional event or exceptional circumstances, and

(b) is immediate.