The National Assistance (Sums for Personal Requirements) (Assessment of Resources and Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2012

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which apply in relation to Wales, prescribe the sum which a local authority assumes a person to need for their personal requirements under section 22(4) of the National Assistance Act 1948 (“the Act”). The Regulations also amend the National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992 (“the Assessment Regulations”) and the National Assistance (Residential Accommodation) (Additional Payments, Relevant Contributions and Assessment of Resources) (Wales) Regulations 2003 (“the 2003 Regulations”). They come into force on 9 April 2012.

Section 22(4) of the National Assistance Act 1948 (“the Act”) requires local authorities, in assessing a person’s ability to pay for accommodation under Part 3 of the Act, to assume, in the absence of special requirements, that a person requires a prescribed sum for their personal requirements per week. Regulation 2 prescribes £24.00 as the sum needed for personal requirements under section 22(4).

Regulation 3 revokes regulation 2 of the National Assistance (Assessment of Resources and Sums for Personal Requirements) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2011 which previously prescribed the sum for personal requirements under section 22(4).

Regulation 4 amends the Assessment Regulations so that the capital limit set out in regulation 20A becomes £23,250.

Regulation 5 makes some technical amendments to the 2003 Regulations. There were previously two capital limits, a lower and upper limit, which were used in the assessment of an individual’s ability to pay for accommodation under Part 3 of the Act. The two capital limits were replaced with one single capital limit in Wales by virtue of the National Assistance (Assessment of Resources and Sums for Personal Requirements) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2010. Regulation 5 removes references to the lower limit which remain in the 2003 Regulations.

The Welsh Ministers' Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained at Adult Social Services Policy Division, Department of Health, Social Services and Children, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.