Other
Section 60: Power to stop payment of allowances to care home residents
281.Subsection (1) of this section replaces section 67(2) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, to provide for payment of attendance allowance to be stopped, with new subsections (2) to (7).
282.New subsection (2) confers a power to make regulations providing for circumstances in which payment of attendance allowance may be withdrawn from those resident in a care home, namely where any of the costs of any qualifying services provided in a care home are borne out of public or local funds under a specified enactment.
283.New subsections (3) to (7) define what is meant by a “care home”, “qualifying services” and an “enactment” for these purposes.
284.Subsection (2) of this section replaces section 72(8) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, to provide for the care component of disability living allowance to be stopped, with new subsections (8) to (13).
285.New subsections (8) to (13) confer a power to provide by regulations for circumstances in which payment of the care component of disability living allowance may be withdrawn from those resident in a care home.
Section 61: Independent Living Funds
286.This section amends the Disability (Grants) Act 1993 which provides for the making of grants by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland to the Independent Living (Extension) Fund, the Independent Living (1993) Fund and Motability. The current Independent Living Funds are being replaced by a new Trust called The Independent Living Fund (2006) and this section will update the names of the funds to allow the Secretary of State and the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland to make grants to the new fund.
287.This section provides a power to make consequential amendments to subordinate legislation.
Section 62: Medical Examinations
288.This section allows the Secretary of State and the eligible member of an appeal tribunal to refer a person to a health care professional for medical examination and report, rather than only allowing a referral to a medical practitioner. Such a reference can be made where considered necessary for the purpose of providing the Secretary of State with information for use in making a decision on entitlement to benefit or to aid the appeal tribunal’s determination of an appeal.
289.Section 62(4) also allows the eligible member of an appeal tribunal to specify the description of health care professional to whom a person is to be referred.
290.Section 62(5) inserts a definition of health care professional into section 39 of the Social Security Act 1998. It lists different types of regulated health care professions, together with a regulation-making power to add other regulated professions. Members of these professions, will, if they are approved by the Secretary of State, be health care professionals for the purposes of carrying out medical examinations.
