20.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), the additional condition referred to in paragraph 19(11)(b)(i) is that either—
(a)the applicant or, as the case may be, the applicant’s partner—
(i)is in receipt of one or more of the following benefits: attendance allowance, disability living allowance, personal independence payment, an AFIP, the disability element or the severe disability element of working tax credit as specified in regulation 20(1)(b) and (f) of the Working Tax Credit (Entitlement and Maximum Rate) Regulations 2002(1), mobility supplement, long-term incapacity benefit under Part 2 of the SSCBA or severe disablement allowance under Part 3 of that Act but, in the case of long-term incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance, only where it is paid in respect of the applicant; or
(ii)was in receipt of long-term incapacity benefit under Part 2 of the SSCBA when entitlement to that benefit ceased on account of the payment of a retirement pension under that Act [F1or a state pension under Part 1 of the Pensions Act 2014] and the applicant has since remained continuously entitled to council tax benefit (for the period prior to 1 April 2013) or a reduction under an authority’s scheme (for the period after 1 April 2013) and, if the long-term incapacity benefit was payable to the applicant’s partner, the partner is still a member of the family; or
(iii)was in receipt of attendance allowance or disability living allowance but payment of benefit has been suspended in accordance with regulations made under section 113(2) of the SSCBA or otherwise abated as a consequence of the applicant or the applicant’s partner becoming a patient within the meaning of paragraph 19(11)(g) (treatment of child care charges); or
(iv)was in receipt of personal independence payment, but payment of that benefit has been suspended in accordance with section 86 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 as a consequence of the applicant becoming a patient within the meaning of paragraph 19(11)(g) (treatment of child care charges); or
(v)was in receipt of an AFIP but its payment has been suspended in accordance with any terms of the armed and reserve forces compensation scheme which allow for a suspension because a person is undergoing medical treatment in a hospital or similar institution; or
(vi)is provided by the Secretary of State or [F2an integrated care board] with an invalid carriage or other vehicle under paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to the National Health Service Act 2006 or, in Scotland, under section 46 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (provision of services by Scottish Ministers), or in Wales, under section 5 and Schedule 1 to the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006, or in Northern Ireland, is provided with an invalid carriage or other vehicle by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety under article 30(1) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972, or receives payments by way of grant from the Secretary of State under paragraph 10(3) of Schedule 1 to the Act of 2006(2) (provision of vehicles for disabled persons) or, in Scotland, by Scottish Ministers under section 46 of the Act of 1978; or
[F3(vii)is blind or severely sight-impaired and in consequence is registered as blind in a register compiled under section 29 of the National Assistance Act 1948 (welfare services), or is registered as severely sight-impaired in a register established and maintained by a local authority under section 18(1) of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 or section 77(1) of the Care Act 2014, or in Scotland has been certified as blind and in consequence is registered in a register maintained by or on behalf of a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994; or]
(b)the applicant—
(i)is, or is treated as, incapable of work in accordance with the provisions of, and regulations made under, Part 12A of the SSCBA (incapacity for work); and
(ii)has been incapable, or has been treated as incapable, of work for a continuous period of not less than—
(aa)in the case of an applicant who is terminally ill within the meaning of section 30B(4) of the SSCBA, 196 days;
(bb)in any other case, 364 days.
(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(a)(vii), a person who has ceased to be registered as blind [F4or severely sight-impaired] on that person regaining that person’s eyesight is nevertheless to be treated as blind [F4or severely sight-impaired] and as satisfying the additional condition set out in that sub-paragraph for a period of 28 weeks following the date on which that person ceased to be so registered.
(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b), where any two or more periods of incapacity are separated by a break of not more than 56 days, those periods must be treated as one continuous period.
(4) For the purposes of this paragraph, a reference to a person who is or was in receipt of long-term incapacity benefit includes a person who is or was in receipt of short-term incapacity benefit at a rate equal to the long-term rate by virtue of section 30B(4)(a) of the SSCBA (short-term incapacity benefit for a person who is terminally ill), or who would be or would have been in receipt of short-term incapacity benefit at such a rate but for the fact that the rate of short-term incapacity benefit already payable to the person is or was equal to or greater than the long term rate.
(5) In the case of an applicant who is a welfare to work beneficiary (a person to whom regulation 13A(1) of the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) (General) Regulations 1995 applies(3), and who again becomes incapable of work for the purposes of Part 12A of the SSCBA) the reference to a period of 56 days in sub-paragraph (3) must be treated as a reference to a period of 104 weeks.
Textual Amendments
F1Words in Sch. 1 para. 20(1)(a)(ii) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(3) of the amending S.I.) by The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/50), regs. 1(2), 5(e)(i)
F2Words in Sch. 1 para. 20(1)(a)(vi) substituted (1.7.2022) by The Health and Care Act 2022 (Consequential and Related Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/634), regs. 1(2), 71(2)(b)
F3Sch. 1 para. 20(1)(a)(vii) substituted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(3) of the amending S.I.) by The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/50), regs. 1(2), 5(e)(ii)
F4Words in Sch. 1 para. 20(2) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(3) of the amending S.I.) by The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/50), regs. 1(2), 5(e)(iii)
Commencement Information
I1Sch. 1 para. 20 in force at 28.11.2013, see reg. 1(2)
Sub-paragraph (3) was amended by section 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (c.7).
S.I. 1995/311: regulation 13A was inserted by S.I. 1998/2231 and amended by S.I. 1999/3109, S.I. 2006/707 and S.I. 2006/2378.