The Council Tax Reduction (State Pension Credit) (Scotland) Regulations 2012

5.—(1) £20 if the applicant or any partner of the applicant—

(a) is in receipt of—

(i) long-term incapacity benefit under section 30A of the 1992 Act(1);

(ii) severe disablement allowance under section 68 of the 1992 Act(2);

(iii) attendance allowance;

(iv) disability living allowance;

(v) personal independence payment;

(vi) any mobility supplement under article 20 of the 2006 Order, any other supplement awarded in respect of disablement which affects a person’s ability to walk and for which the person is in receipt of war disablement pension or any mobility supplement under article 25A of the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983(3);

(vii) the disability element or the severe disability element of working tax credit under Schedule 2 to the Working Tax Credit Regulations(4); or

(viii) main phase employment and support allowance;

(b) has been certified as blind and in consequence is registered as blind in a register maintained by or on behalf of a local authority in Scotland or is registered as blind in a register compiled under section 29 of the National Assistance Act 1948(5) (welfare services);

(c) is, or is treated as, incapable of work in accordance with the provisions of, and regulations made under, Part 12A of the 1992 Act (incapacity for work) and has been incapable, or has been treated as incapable, of work for a continuous period of not less than—

(i) in the case of an applicant who is terminally ill within the meaning of section 30B(4) of the 1992 Act(6), 196 days; and

(ii) in any other case, 364 days; or

(d) has, or is treated as having, limited capacity for work within the meaning of section 1(4) of the Welfare Reform Act 2007(7) or limited capability for work-related activity within the meaning of section 2(5) of that Act and either—

(i) the assessment phase as defined in section 24(2) of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 has ended; or

(ii) regulation 7 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations(8) (circumstances where the condition that the assessment phase has ended before entitlement to the support component or the work-related activity component arises does not apply) applies.

(2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), £20 if the applicant or any partner of the applicant has, within a period of 8 weeks ending on the day in respect of which the applicant or the applicant’s partner attains the qualifying age for state pension credit, had an award of housing benefit or was entitled to council tax reduction and under these Regulations or the Council Tax Reduction Regulations—

(a) £20 was disregarded in respect of earnings taken into account in that award or calculation of entitlement to council tax reduction; and

(b) the person whose earnings qualified for the disregard continues in employment after the termination of that award of housing benefit or entitlement to council tax reduction.

(3) The disregard of £20 specified in sub-paragraph (2) applies so long as there is no break, other than a break which does not exceed 8 weeks, in a person’s entitlement to housing benefit or council tax reduction or in employment following the first day in respect of which that housing benefit is awarded or the person becomes entitled to council tax reduction.

(4) £20 is the maximum amount which may be disregarded under this paragraph, notwithstanding that the applicant and any partner of the applicant may each satisfy the requirements of this paragraph.

(1)

Section 30A was inserted by the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994 (c.18) and amended by section 64 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c.30) and paragraph 14 of Schedule 24 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c.33).

(2)

Section 68 was repealed by Schedule 13 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c.30) subject to savings provisions in S.I. 2000/2958.

(3)

S.I. 1983/686 as relevantly amended by S.I. 1983/1164, 1540, 1986/628, 1990/1300, 1991/708, 1992/702, 1995/445 and 2001/420.

(4)

Schedule 2 was amended by S.I. 2012/849.

(5)

1948 c.29. Section 29 was repealed in relation to Scotland by Schedule 9 to the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 (c.49). In relation to England and Wales, section 29 was amended by section 1 of the National Assistance (Amendment) Act 1959 (c.30), Schedule 4 to the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1960 (c.61), section 195 of, and paragraph 2 of Schedule 23 and Schedule 30 to, the Local Government Act 1972 (c.70), paragraph 3 of Schedule 3 to the Employment and Training Act 1973 (c.50), section 30 of and Schedule 10 to the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983 (c.41), section 44 of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c.19), paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the National Health Service (Consequential Provisions) Act 2006 (c.43) and section 147 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (c.14).

(6)

Section 30B was inserted by the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994 (c.18) and amended by paragraph 21 of Schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 1995 (c.26), paragraph 22 of Schedule 8 to the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c.30), paragraph 15 of Schedule 24 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c.33) and Schedule 7 to the Pensions Act 2007 (c.22).

(7)

2007 c.5.

(8)

Regulation 7 was amended by S.I. 2008/3051, 2010/840 and 2012/874, 913 and 919.