Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.-(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security Benefits (Maintenance Payments and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 1996 and shall come into force on 19th April 1996.

(2) In these Regulations-

"the Act" means the Social Security Administration Act 1992;

"the Income Support Regulations" means the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987(4);

"the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations" means the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations 1996(5).

Interpretation for the purposes of section 74A of the Act

2. In section 74A of the Act (payment of benefit where maintenance payments collected by Secretary of State)-

(a)"child maintenance" means any payment towards the maintenance of a child or young person, including payments made-

(i)under a court order;

(ii)under a maintenance assessment made under the Child Support Act 1991(6);

(iii)under an agreement for maintenance; or

(iv)voluntarily,

and for this purpose a "young person" is a person referred to in regulation 3 of these Regulations (persons of a prescribed description);

(b)"spousal maintenance" means any payment made by a person towards the maintenance of that person's spouse, including payments made-

(i)under a court order;

(ii)under an agreement for maintenance; or

(iii)voluntarily;

(c)"relevant income" means-

(i)any income which is taken into account under Part V of the Income Support Regulations for the purposes of calculating the amount of income support to which the claimant is entitled; or

(ii)any income which is taken into account under Part VIII of the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations for the purposes of calculating the amount of jobseeker's allowance to which the claimant is entitled.

Persons of a prescribed description

3. For the purposes of the definition of "family" in section 74A(5) of the Act, a person of a prescribed description is any person who-

(a)is referred to as a "young person" in the Income Support Regulations by virtue of regulation 14 of those Regulations(7); or

(b)is referred to as a "young person" in the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations by virtue of regulation 76 of those Regulations.

Circumstances in which a person is to be treated as responsible for another

4. A person shall be treated as responsible for another for the purposes of section 74A of the Act if he is treated as responsible for that other person under either regulation 15 of the Income Support Regulations(8) or regulation 77 of the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations.

Circumstances in which persons are to be treated as being members of the same household

5. Persons shall be treated as members of the same household for the purposes of section 74A of the Act if they are treated as members of the same household under either regulation 16 of the Income Support Regulations(9) or regulation 78 of the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations.

Amendment of the Income Support Regulations

6.-(1) The Income Support Regulations shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In regulation 55 (treatment of liable relative payments) at the beginning there shall be inserted the words "Subject to regulation 55A and".

(3) After regulation 55 there shall be inserted the following regulation-

"Disregard of payments treated as not relevant income

55A. Where the Secretary of State treats any payment as not being relevant income for the purposes of section 74A of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (payment of benefit where maintenance payments collected by Secretary of State), that payment shall be disregarded in calculating a claimant's income.".

(4) In regulation 60B (treatment of child support maintenance)(10) at the beginning there shall be inserted the words "Subject to regulation 60E,".

(5) After regulation 60D there shall be inserted the following regulation-

"Disregard of payments treated as not relevant income

60E. Where the Secretary of State treats any payment of child support maintenance as not being relevant income for the purposes of section 74A of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (payment of benefit where maintenance payments collected by Secretary of State), that payment shall be disregarded in calculating a claimant's income.".

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations are made by virtue of, and are consequential upon, section 74A of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, which was inserted into that Act by section 25 of the Child Support Act 1995, and provides that where the Secretary of State is collecting maintenance payments on behalf of a person who is claiming certain social security benefits, the Secretary of State may disregard those maintenance payments for the purposes of calculating the claimant's benefit entitlement, and may then retain any such maintenance payments collected by him.

These Regulations provide definitions of certain terms for the purposes of section 74A, and make consequential amendments to the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987.

These Regulations are made within 6 months of the coming into force of section 74A of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and are accordingly exempted by section 173(5)(b) of that Act from reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee and have not been so referred.

These Regulations do not impose a charge on businesses.