The Community Charge Benefits (General) Regulations 1989

Interpretation E+W+S

2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires–

“the Act” means the Social Security Act 1986;

“the 1987 Act” means the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc (Scotland) Act 1987(1);

“the 1988 Act” means the Local Government Finance Act 1988(2);

“appropriate authority” means–

(a)

in England and Wales, the charging authority to which section 31B(2) of the Act(3) refers,

(b)

in Scotland, the levying authority to which section 31B(3) of the Act refers;

“appropriate social security office” means an office of the Department of Social Security which is normally open to the public for the receipt of claims for income support and includes an office of the Department of Employment which is normally open to the public for the receipt of claims for unemployment benefit;

“assessment period” means such period as is prescribed in regulations 13 to 15 over which income falls to be calculated;

“attendance allowance” means–

(a)

an attendance allowance under section 35 of the Social Security Act(4);

(b)

an increase of disablement pension under section 61 of that Act(5);

(c)

a payment under regulations made in exercise of the power conferred by section 159(3)(b) of that Act;

(d)

an increase of an allowance which is payable in respect of constant attendance under section 5 of the Industrial Injuries and Diseases (Old Cases) Act 1975(6);

(e)

a payment by virtue of article 14, 15, 16, 43 or 44 of the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983(7) or any analogous payment;

(f)

any payment based on need for attendance which is paid as part of a war disablement pension;

“the benefit Acts” has the meaning assigned by section 84(1) of the Act;

“benefit period” has the meaning given to it in regulation 54;

“benefit week” means a period of 7 consecutive days commencing on a Monday and ending on a Sunday;

“boarder” means a person who pays a charge for his accommodation and at least some cooked or prepared meals which are both prepared and consumed in that accommodation or associated premises;

“charge payer” means the person specified in section 31A(7) of the Act(8);

“child” means a person under the age of 16;

“claim” means a claim for community charge benefits;

“claimant” means a person claiming community charge benefits;

“collective community charge contribution” means–

(a)

in England and Wales, a contribution to which section 9 of the 1988 Act refers,

(b)

in Scotland, a contribution to which section 11(11) of the 1987 Act(9) refers;

“community charge benefits” means community charge benefits under Part II of the Act(10);

“concessionary payment” means a payment made under arrangements made by the Secretary of State with the consent of the Treasury which is charged either to the National Insurance Fund or to a Departmental Expenditure Vote to which payments of benefit under the Act, the Social Security Act or the Child Benefit Act 1975(11) are charged;

“designated office” means the office designated by the appropriate authority, by way of notice upon a form approved by them for the purpose of claiming community charge benefits for the receipt of claims to community charge benefits;

[F1 “disability living allowance” means a disability living allowance under section 37ZA of the Social Security Act;

“disability working allowance” means a disability working allowance under section 20 of the Act;]

“earnings” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 18 or, as the case may be, 20;

[F2 “eligible rent” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 10 of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987 (rent);]

“employed earner” is to be construed in accordance with section 2(1)(a) of the Social Security Act;

“family” has the meaning assigned to it by section 20(11) of the Act;

“housing benefit” means housing benefit under Part II of the Act;

“invalid carriage or other vehicle” means a vehicle propelled by a petrol engine or by electric power supplied for use on the road and to be controlled by the occupant;

“lone parent” means a person who has no partner and who is responsible for and a member of the same household as a child or young person;

[F3 “lower rate” where it relates to rates of tax has the same meaning as in the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 by virtue of section 832(1) of that Act;]

“married couple” has the meaning assigned to it by section 20(11) of the Act;

“member of a couple” means a member of a married or unmarried couple;

“mobility allowance” means an allowance under section 37A of the Social Security Act(12);

“mobility supplement” means a supplement to which paragraph 7 of Schedule 3 refers;

“net earnings” means such earnings as are calculated in accordance with regulation 19;

“net profit” means such profit as is calculated in accordance with regulation 21;

“non-dependant” means a person to whom regulation 3 of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987(13) refers;

“occupational pension” means any pension or other periodical payment under an occupational pension scheme but does not include any discretionary payment out of a fund established for relieving hardship in particular cases;

“partner”, except in regulation 11 (amendment of section 31B(6) of the Act), means–

(a)

where a claimant is a member of a married or unmarried couple, the other member of that couple; or

(b)

where a claimant is polygamously married to two or more members of his household, any such member to whom he is married;

“payment” includes part of a payment;

“person affected” means any person (including the appropriate authority) whose rights, duties or obligations are affected by a determination, whether or not on review, or by a decision on further review;

“person on income support” means a person in receipt of income support;

“policy of life insurance” means any instrument by which the payment of money is assured on death (except death by accident only) or by the happening of any contingency dependent on human life, or any instrument evidencing a contract which is subject to payment of premiums for a term dependent on human life;

“polygamous marriage” means a marriage to which section 22B of the Act refers(14);

[F4 “qualifying person” means a person in respect of whom payment has been made from the Fund;]

“registered student” means a student who does not satisfy the condition of entitlement for community charge benefit in respect of a personal community charge in section 20 of the Act(15) because his name is shown in a community charges register as undertaking a full time course of education on any day in respect of which community charge benefit is claimed;

“remunerative work” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 3;

“review board” means a board constituted in accordance with regulation 69(3) and Schedule 6;

“self-employed earner” is to be construed in accordance with section 2(1)(b) of the Social Security Act;

“single claimant” means a claimant who neither has a partner nor is a lone parent;

“Social Security Act” means the Social Security Act 1975(16);

“student” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 36;

[F5 “supplementary benefit” means a supplementary pension or allowance under section 1 or 4 of the Supplementary Benefits Act 1976;]

[F4 “the Fund” means moneys made available from time to time by the Secretary of State for the benefit of persons eligible for payment in accordance with the provisions of a scheme established by him on 24th April 1992 or, in Scotland, on 10th April 1992;]

“the Independent Living Fund” means the charitable trust established out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for the purpose of providing financial assistance to those persons incapacitated by or otherwise suffering from very severe disablement who are in need of such assistance to enable them to live independently;

[F6 “the Macfarlane (Special Payments) Trust” means the trust of that name established on 29th January 1990 partly out of funds provided by the Secretary of State, for the benefit of certain persons suffering from haemophilia;]

[F7 “the Macfarlane (Special Payments) (No. 2) Trust" means the trust of that name, established on 3rd May 1991 partly out of funds provided by the Secretary of State, for the benefit of certain persons suffering from haemophilia and other beneficiaries;]

“the Macfarlane Trust” means the charitable trust, established partly out of funds provided by the Secretary of State to the Haemophilia Society, for the relief of poverty or distress among those suffering from haemophilia;

[F8 “training allowance” means an allowance (whether by way of periodical grants or otherwise) payable—

(a)

out of public funds by a Government department or by or on behalf of the [F9 Secretary of State] [F10 , Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise];

(b)

to a person for his maintenance or in respect of a member of his family; and

(c)

for the period, or part of the period, during which he is following a course of training or instruction provided by, or in pursuance of arrangements made with, that department or approved by that department in relation to him or so provided or approved by or on behalf of [F11 the Secretary of State] [F10 , Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise],

but it does not include an allowance paid by any Government department to or in respect of a person by reason of the fact that he is following a course of full-time education other than under arrangements made under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973 or is training as a teacher;]

“unmarried couple” has the meaning assigned to it by section 20(11) of the Act;

[F12 “water charges” means —

(a)

as respects England and Wales, any water and sewerage charges under Chapter IV of Part II of the Water Act 1989,

(b)

as respects Scotland, any water and sewerage charges under Schedule 5 to the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987,

in so far as such charges are in respect of the dwelling which a person occupies as his home;]

“year of assessment” has the meaning prescribed in section 832(1) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988(17);

“young person” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 4(1).

(2) In Schedule 4 references to a claimant occupying a dwelling or premises as his home shall be construed in accordance with regulation 5 of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987(18).

(3) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference–

(a) to a numbered Part is to the Part of these Regulations bearing that number;

(b) to a numbered regulation or Schedule is to the regulation in, or the Schedule to, these Regulations bearing that number;

(c) in a regulation or Schedule to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph in that regulation or Schedule bearing that number;

(d) in a paragraph to a lettered or numbered sub-paragraph is to the sub-paragraph in that paragraph bearing that letter or number.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (6.4.1992) by The Disability Living Allowance and Disability Working Allowance (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 1991 (S.I. 1991/2742), regs. 1(1), 16(2)

F2 Words in reg. 2 inserted (1.10.1990) by The Community Charge Benefits (General) Amendment (No. 3) Regulations 1990 (S.I. 1990/1773), regs. 1(1), 2(a)

F3 Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (5.10.1992) by The Housing Benefit and Community Charge Benefits (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.2) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/2148), regs. 1(1), 14

F4 Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (7.5.1992) by The Income-related Benefits Schemes and Social Security (Recoupment) Amendment Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/1101), regs. 1(1), 2(2)(a)(b)

F5 Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (1.4.1992) by The Housing Benefit and Community Charge Benefits (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/432), regs. 1(1)(e), 19(a)

F6 Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (1.4.1990) by The Community Charge Benefits (General) Amendment Regulations 1990 (S.I. 1990/834), regs. 1(1), 2(a)

F7 Words in reg. 2 inserted (11.5.1991) by The Income-related Benefits Schemes and Social Security (Recoupment) Amendment Regulations 1991 (S.I. 1991/1175), regs. 1(1), 2(2)

F8 Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (1.4.1990) by The Community Charge Benefits (General) Amendment Regulations 1990 (S.I. 1990/834), regs. 1(1), 2(b)

F9 Words in reg. 2(1) substituted (6.4.1992) by The Housing Benefit and Community Charge Benefits (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/432), regs. 1(1)(c), 19(b)(i)

F10 Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (S.) (1.4.1991) by The Enterprise (Scotland) Consequential Amendments Order 1991 (S.I. 1991/387), arts. 1, 18(a)

F11 Words in reg. 2(1) substituted (6.4.1992) by The Housing Benefit and Community Charge Benefits (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/432), regs. 1(1)(c), 19(b)(ii)

F12 Words in reg. 2 inserted (1.10.1990) by The Community Charge Benefits (General) Amendment (No. 3) Regulations 1990 (S.I. 1990/1773), regs. 1(1), 2(b)

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 2 in force at 1.4.1990, see reg. 1

(1)

1987 c. 47.

(2)

1988 c. 41.

(3)

Section 31B was inserted in the Social Security Act 1986 (c. 50) by the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (c. 41) Schedule 10 paragraph 6.

(4)

1975 c. 14; section 35 was amended by the National Health Service Act 1977 (c. 49), Schedule 15, paragraph 63, the Social Security Act 1979 (c. 18), section 2, the Social Security Act 1980 (c. 30), Schedule 1, Part II, paragraph 8, and the Social Security Act 1988 (c. 7) section 1.

(5)

Sub-sections (3) and (4) of section 61 were added by the Social Security Act 1986 (c. 50) section 39 and Schedule 3, paragraph 6.

(6)

1975 c. 16.

(7)

S.I. 1983/686; the relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1983/1164 and 1984/1675.

(8)

Section 31A was inserted in the Act by the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (c. 41) Schedule 10 paragraph 6.

(9)

Section 11(11) was amended by the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (c. 41) Schedule 12 paragraph 20(8).

(10)

Part II of the Act was amended by the Local Government Finance Act 1988 Schedule 10 which inserted “community charge benefits” in that Part.

(11)

1975 c. 61.

(12)

Section 37A was inserted by section 22(1) of the Social Security Pensions Act 1975 (c. 60) and amended by the National Health Service Act 1977 (c. 49) Schedule 15 paragraph 64; the Social Security Act 1979 (c. 18) section 3 and the Social Security Act 1986 (c. 50) sections 71 and 86 and Schedule 11.

(13)

S.I. 1987/1971, amended by S.I. 1988/1971 and 1989/416.

(14)

Section 22B was inserted in the Social Security Act 1986 by the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (c. 41) Schedule 10 paragraph 5 and amended by the Social Security Act 1989 (c. 24) Schedule 8 paragraph 9(3).

(15)

See section 20(8B)(a) and (8C)(a) inserted in the Social Security Act 1986 by the Local Government Finance Act 1988 Schedule 10 paragraph 2(3).

(16)

1975 c. 14.

(17)

1988 c. 1.

(18)

S.I. 1987/1971; relevant amending instument is S.I. 1988/1971.