Social Security Act 1980

1 Right to supplementary benefit.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, every person in Great Britain of or over the age of 16 whose resources are insufficent to meet his requirements shall be entitled to benefit as follows—

(a) a supplementary pension if he is one of a married or unmarried couple of whom one is or both are over the age of 65 or if he is not one of such a couple and has attained pensionable age; and

(b) a supplementary allowance in any other case; and to such benefit by way of a single payment to meet an exceptional need as may be determined under section 3 of this Act.

paragraph (a) of this subsection shall have effect until the prescribed date as if the words from “is one" to “couple and" were omitted.

(1A) Regulations may provide for a person’s entitlement under subsection (1) above to continue during prescribed periods of the person’s temporary absence from Great Britain.

(2) Where, under the provisions of this Act, the requirements and resources of a person fall to be aggregated with, and treated as, those of another person, that other person only shall be entitled to supplementary benefit.

(3) The requirements of any person to be taken into account for the purposes of this Act do not include any medical, surgical, optical, aural or dental requirements; and regulations may provide that the requirements which by virtue of this subsection are not included in a person’s requirments include or exclude prescribed requirements.