The Council Tax Benefit Regulations 2006

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;

“the Administration Act” means the Social Security Administration Act 1992(1);

“the 1973 Act” means the Employment and Training Act 1973(2);

“the 1992 Act” means the Local Government Finance Act 1992;

“Abbeyfield Home” means an establishment run by the Abbeyfield Society including all bodies corporate or incorporate which are affiliated to that Society;

“adoption leave” means a period of absence from work on ordinary or additional adoption leave by virtue of section 75A or 75B of the Employment Rights Act 1996(3);

“alternative maximum council tax benefit” means the amount determined in accordance with regulation 62 and Schedule 2;

“appropriate DWP office” means an office of the Department for Work and Pensions dealing with state pension credit or claim office which is normally open to the public for the receipt of claims for income support or a jobseeker’s allowance;

“assessment period” means such period as is prescribed in regulations 19 to 21 over which income falls to be calculated;

“attendance allowance” means—

(a)

an attendance allowance under Part 3 of the Act;

(b)

an increase of disablement pension under section 104 or 105 of the Act;

(c)

a payment under regulations made in exercise of the power conferred by paragraph 7(2)(b) of Part 2 of Schedule 8 to the Act(4);

(d)

an increase of an allowance which is payable in respect of constant attendance under paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 8 to the Act;

(e)

a payment by virtue of article 14, 15, 16, 43 or 44 of the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983(5) or any analogous payment; or

(f)

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

“the benefit Acts” means the Act and the Jobseekers Act(6);

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

“care home” in England and Wales has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 of the Care Standards Act 2000(7) and in Scotland means a care home service within the meaning assigned to it by section 2(3) of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001(8);

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

“child tax credit” means a child tax credit under section 8 of the Tax Credits Act;

“the Children Order” means the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(9);

“claim” means a claim for council tax benefit;

“claimant” means a person claiming council tax benefit;

“close relative” means a parent, parent-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-parent, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister, or if any of the preceding persons is one member of a couple, the other member of that couple;

“community charge benefit” means community charge benefits under Part 7 of the Act as originally enacted;

“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 are charged;

“the Consequential Provisions Regulations” means the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2006(10);

“council tax benefit” means council tax benefit under Part 7 of the Act;

“couple” means—

(a)

a man and a woman who are married to each other and are members of the same household;

(b)

a man and a woman who are not married to each other but are living together as husband and wife;

(c)

two people of the same sex who are civil partners of each other and are members of the same household; or

(d)

two people of the same sex who are not civil partners of each other but are living together as if they were civil partners,

and for the purposes of sub-paragraph (d), two people of the same sex are to be regarded as living together as if they were civil partners if, but only if, they would be regarded as living together as husband and wife were they instead two people of the opposite sex;

“date of claim” means the date on which the claim is made, or treated as made, for the purposes of regulation 69 (time and manner in which claims are to be made);

“the Decisions and Appeals Regulations” means the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001(11);

“designated authority” means any of the following—

(a)

the Secretary of State;

(b)

a person providing services to the Secretary of State;

(c)

a local authority;

(d)

a person providing services to, or authorised to exercise any function of, any such authority;

“designated office” means the office designated by the relevant authority for the receipt of claims to council tax benefit—

(a)

by notice upon or with a form approved by it for the purpose of claiming council tax benefit; or

(b)

by reference upon or with such a form to some other document available from it and sent by electronic means or otherwise on application and without charge; or

(c)

by any combination of the provisions set out in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) above;

“disability living allowance” means a disability living allowance under section 71 of the Act;

“dwelling” has the same meaning in section 3 or 72 of the 1992 Act;

“earnings” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 25 or, as the case may be, 27;

“the Eileen Trust” means the charitable trust of that name established on 29th March 1993 out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for the benefit of persons eligible for payment in accordance with its provisions;

“employed earner” is to be construed in accordance with section 2(1)(a) of the Act and also includes a person who is in receipt of a payment which is payable under any enactment having effect in Northern Ireland and which corresponds to statutory sick pay or statutory maternity pay;

“employment zone” means an area within Great Britain designated for the purposes of section 60 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999(12) and an “employment zone programme” means a programme established for such an area or areas designed to assist claimants for a jobseeker’s allowance to obtain sustainable employment;

“employment zone contractor” means a person who is undertaking the provision of facilities in respect of an employment zone programme on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions;

“extended payment” means council tax benefit allowed pursuant to regulation 60;

“extended payment (severe disablement allowance and incapacity benefit)” means council tax benefit allowed pursuant to regulation 61;

“family” has the meaning assigned to it by section 137(1) of the Act;

“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;

“gateway office” means an appropriate DWP office or an office designated by the appropriate authority which is nominated by the Secretary of State as a gateway office and referred to in a notice upon or attached to a form approved by the appropriate authority for the purpose of claiming council tax benefit;

“a guaranteed income payment” means a payment made under article 14(1)(b) or article 21(1)(a) of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2005(13);

“housing benefit” means housing benefit under Part 7 of the Act;

“the Housing Benefit Regulations” means the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006(14);

“Immigration and Asylum Act” means the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999(15);

“an income-based jobseeker’s allowance” and “a joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance” have the same meaning as they have in the Jobseekers Act by virtue of section 1(4) of that Act;

“Income Support Regulations” means the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987(16);

“independent hospital” in England and Wales has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000 and in Scotland means an independent healthcare service as defined in section 2(5)(a) and (b) of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001;

“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;

“the Independent Living Funds” means the Independent Living Fund, the Independent Living (Extension) Fund and the Independent Living (1993) Fund;

“the Independent Living (Extension) Fund” means the Trust of that name established by a deed dated 25th February 1993 and made between the Secretary of State for Social Security of the one part and Robin Glover Wendt and John Fletcher Shepherd of the other part;

“the Independent Living (1993) Fund” means the Trust of that name established by a deed dated 25th February 1993 and made between the Secretary of State for Social Security of the one part and Robin Glover Wendt and John Fletcher Shepherd of the other part;

“ Intensive Activity Period for 50 plus” means the programme known by that name and provided in pursuance of arrangements made by or on behalf of the Secretary of State under section 2 of the 1973 Act, being a programme lasting for up to 52 weeks for any one individual aged 50 years or over on the day that he first joined any such programme, and consisting for that individual of any one or more of the following elements, namely assistance in pursuing self-employed earner’s employment, education and training, work experience, assistance with job search, motivation and skills training;

“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;

“Jobseekers Act” means the Jobseekers Act 1995(17);

“Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations” means the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996(18);

“the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund” means the company limited by guarantee (number 5505072), and registered charity of that name established on 11th July 2005 for the purpose of (amongst other things) relieving sickness, disability or financial need of victims (including families or dependants of victims) of the terrorist attacks carried out in London on 7th July 2005;

“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;

“lower rate” where it relates to rates of tax has the same meaning as in the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988(19) by virtue of section 832(1) of that Act;

“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;

“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;

“maternity leave” means a period during which a woman is absent from work because she is pregnant or has given birth to a child, and at the end of which she has a right to return to work either under the terms of her contract of employment or under Part 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996(20);

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

“mobility supplement” means a supplement to which paragraph 9 of Schedule 4 refers;

“net earnings” means such earnings as are calculated in accordance with regulation 26;

“net profit” means such profit as is calculated in accordance with regulation 28;

“the New Deal options” means the employment programmes specified in regulation 75(1)(a)(ii) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations and the training scheme specified in regulation 75(1)(b)(ii) of those Regulations;

“non-dependant” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 3;

“non-dependant deduction” means a deduction that is to be made under regulation 58;

“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;

“ordinary clothing or footwear” means clothing or footwear for normal daily use, but does not include school uniforms, or clothing or footwear used solely for sporting activities;

“partner” means—

(a)

where a claimant is a member of a 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;

“paternity leave” means a period of absence from work on leave by virtue of section 80A or 80B of the Employment Rights Act 1996;

“payment” includes part of a payment;

“pension fund holder” means with respect to a personal pension scheme or retirement annuity contract, the trustees, managers or scheme administrators, as the case may be, of the scheme or contract concerned;

“person affected” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 3 of the Decisions and Appeals Regulations;

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

“person on state pension credit” means a person in receipt of state pension credit;

“personal pension scheme” has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993(21) and, in the case of a self-employed earner, includes a scheme approved by the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs under Chapter 4 of Part 14 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988;

“policy of life insurance” means any instrument by which the payment of money is assured on death (except death by accident only) or 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 133(1) of the Act refers;

“qualifying age for state pension credit” means (in accordance with section 1(2)(b) and (6) of the State Pension Credit Act)—

(a)

in the case of a woman, pensionable age; or

(b)

in the case of a man, the age which is pensionable age in the case of a woman born on the same day as the man;

“qualifying person” means a person in respect of whom payment has been made from the Fund, the Eileen Trust, the Skipton Fund or the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund;

“relative” means a close relative, grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece;

“relevant authority” means an authority administering council tax benefit;

“remunerative work” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 6;

“rent” means “eligible rent” to which regulation 12 of the Housing Benefit Regulations refers less any deductions in respect of non-dependants which fall to be made under regulation 74 (non-dependant deductions) of those Regulations;

“resident” has the meaning it has in Part 1 or 2 of the 1992 Act;

“retirement annuity contract” means a contract or trust scheme approved under Chapter 3 of Part 14 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988;

“second adult” has the meaning given to it in Schedule 2;

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

“self-employment route” means assistance in pursuing self-employed earner’s employment whilst participating in—

(a)

an employment zone programme; or

(b)

a programme provided or other arrangements made pursuant to section 2 of the 1973 Act (functions of the Secretary of State) or section 2 of the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990(22) (functions in relation to training for employment, etc.);

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

“the Skipton Fund” means the ex-gratia payment scheme administered by the Skipton Fund Limited, incorporated on 25th March 2004, for the benefit of certain persons suffering from hepatitis C and other persons eligible for payment in accordance with the scheme’s provisions;

“sports award” means an award made by one of the Sports Councils named in section 23(2) of the National Lottery etc Act 1993(23) out of sums allocated to it for distribution under that section;

“State Pension Credit Act” means the State Pension Credit Act 2002(24);

“student” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 43;

“subsistence allowance” means an allowance which an employment zone contractor has agreed to pay to a person who is participating in an employment zone programme;

“supplementary benefit” means a supplementary pension or allowance under section 1 or 4 of the Supplementary Benefit Act 1976(25);

“the Tax Credits Act” means the Tax Credits Act 2002(26);

“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 Secretary of State, Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Learning and Skills Council for England or the National Assembly for Wales;

(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 the Secretary of State, Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise or the National Assembly for Wales,

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 1973 Act(27) or is training as a teacher;

“the Trusts” means the Macfarlane Trust, the Macfarlane (Special Payments) Trust and the Macfarlane (Special Payments) (No. 2) Trust;

“voluntary organisation” means a body, other than a public or local authority, the activities of which are carried on otherwise than for profit;

“war widower’s pension” means any widower’s pension or allowance granted in respect of a death due to service or war injury and payable by virtue of the Air Force (Constitution) Act 1917(28), the Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act 1939(29), the Pensions (Navy, Army, Air Force and Mercantile Marine) Act 1939(30), the Polish Resettlement Act 1947(31) or Part 7 or section 151 of the Reserve Forces Act 1980(32) or a pension or allowance for a widower granted under any scheme mentioned in section 641(1)(e) or (f) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003(33);

“water charges” means—

(a)

as respects England and Wales, any water and sewerage charges under Chapter 1 of Part 5 of the Water Industry Act 1991(34),

(b)

as respects Scotland, any water and sewerage charges established by Scottish Water under a charges scheme made under section 29A of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002(35),

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

“working tax credit” means a working tax credit under section 10 of the Tax Credits Act;

“Working Tax Credit Regulations” means the Working Tax Credit (Entitlement and Maximum Rate) Regulations 2002(36); and

“young person” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 9(1).

(2) In these Regulations, references to a claimant occupying a dwelling or premises as his home shall be construed in accordance with regulation 7 of the Housing Benefit Regulations.

(3) In these Regulations, where an amount is to be rounded to the nearest penny, a fraction of a penny shall be disregarded if it is less than half a penny and shall otherwise be treated as a whole penny.

(4) For the purpose of these Regulations, a person is on an income-based jobseeker’s allowance on any day in respect of which an income-based jobseeker’s allowance is payable to him and on any day—

(a) in respect of which he satisfies the conditions for entitlement to an income-based jobseeker’s allowance but where the allowance is not paid in accordance with section 19 or 20A of the Jobseekers Act (circumstances in which a jobseeker’s allowance is not payable); or

(b) which is a waiting day for the purposes of paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to that Act and which falls immediately before a day in respect of which an income-based jobseeker’s allowance is payable to him or would be payable to him but for section 19 or 20A of that Act;

(c) in respect of which he is a member of a joint-claim couple for the purposes of the Jobseekers Act and no joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance is payable in respect of that couple as a consequence of either member of that couple being subject to sanctions for the purposes of section 20A of that Act;

(d) in respect of which an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or a joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance would be payable but for a restriction imposed pursuant to section 62 or 63 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000(37) or section 7, 8 or 9 of the Social Security Fraud Act 2001(38) (loss of benefit provisions).

(5) For the purposes of these Regulations, two persons shall be taken to be estranged only if their estrangement constitutes a breakdown of the relationship between them.

(6) In these Regulations, references to any person in receipt of state pension credit includes a person who would be in receipt of state pension credit but for regulation 13 of the State Pension Credit Regulations 2002(39) (small amounts of state pension credit).

(1)

1992 c. 5.

(2)

1973 c. 50; amended by the Employment Act 1988 (c. 19), the Employment Act 1989 (c. 38) and the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993 (c. 19).

(3)

1996 c. 18; sections 75A and 75B were inserted by section 3 of the Employment Act 2002 (c. 22).

(4)

See in particular paragraph 7(2)(b) of Schedule 8.

(5)

S.I. 1983/686; the relevant amending Instruments are S.I. 1983/1164, 1984/1675.

(6)

1995 c. 18; the Jobseekers Act is amended by the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c. 30) section 59 and Schedule 7.

(7)

2000 c. 14.

(8)

2001 asp 8.

(9)

S.I. 1995/755 (N.1. 2).

(10)

S.I. 2006/217.

(11)

S.I. 2001/1002.

(12)

1999 c. 30.

(13)

S.I. 2005/439.

(14)

S.I. 2006/213.

(15)

1999 c. 33.

(16)

S.I. 1987/1967.

(17)

1995 c. 18.

(18)

S.I. 1996/207.

(19)

1988 c. 1; the definition of “lower rate” was added by the Finance Act 1992 (c. 20), section 9(9).

(20)

1996 c. 18.

(21)

1993 c. 48.

(22)

1990 c. 35.

(23)

1993 c. 39.

(24)

2002 c. 16.

(25)

1976 c. 71.

(26)

2002 c. 21.

(27)

1973 c. 50; section 2 was amended by section 25(1) of the Employment Act 1988 (c. 19), by Part I of Schedule 7 to the Employment Act 1989 (c. 38) and by section 47(1) of the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993(c. 19).

(28)

1917 c. 51.

(29)

1939 c. 82.

(30)

1939 c. 83.

(31)

1947 c. 19.

(32)

1980 c. 9.

(33)

2003 c. 1.

(34)

1991 c. 56.

(35)

2002 Asp. 3.

(36)

S.I. 2002/2005.

(37)

2000 c. 19.

(38)

2001 c. 11.

(39)

S.I. 2002/1792.