Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1972

18 Extent to which authorities may depart from model schemes

(1) A housing authority may grant to a person to whom their rebate scheme applies a rebate of a greater amount than they would otherwise grant if they consider that his personal or domestic circumstances are exceptional.

(2) A local authority may grant to a person to whom their allowance scheme applies an allowance of a greater amount than they would otherwise grant if they consider that his personal or domestic circumstances are exceptional.

(3) A housing authority may, subject to the consent of the Secretary of State, vary the provisions of Schedule 2 to this Act as they apply in relation to their rebate scheme, but no variation under this subsection shall be such that a person to whom the scheme applies receives less rebate than he would have received under the model scheme, and if a variation is made in a rebate scheme by a local authority, they shall make a variation in their allowance scheme which appears to them to correspond to it.

(4) A local authority may, subject to the consent of the Secretary of State, vary the provisions of Schedule 2 to this Act as they apply in relation to their allowance scheme, but no variation under this subsection shall be such that a person to whom the scheme applies receives a smaller allowance than he would have received under the model scheme, and if a variation is made in an allowance scheme the authority making it shall make a variation in their rebate scheme which appears to them to correspond to it.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (3) and (4) above, an authority may, subject to the consent of the Secretary of State, vary the provisions of Schedule 2 to this Act so that in ascertaining the weekly income of the tenant and his spouse there is a total disregard of war disablement pension and special widow's pension.

(6) The powers conferred by this section shall not be exercised by any authority in such a way that, on the best estimate which they can make, they are likely as a result to grant a greater amount of rebates or allowances than 110 per cent. of the authority's standard amount of rent rebates or, as the case may be, their standard amount of rent allowances for any year or part of a year.

(7) The Secretary of State may give his consent under subsection (3) or (4) above either generally or in any particular case subject to such conditions as he may require.