The Social Security (Unemployment, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit and Credits) Amendment Regulations 1981

Statutory Instruments

1981 No. 1501

SOCIAL SECURITY

The Social Security (Unemployment, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit and Credits) Amendment Regulations 1981

Made

22nd October 1981

Laid before Parliament

2nd November 1981

Coming into Operation

23rd November 1981

The Secretary of State for Social Services, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 13(4) and 17(1)(a) and (2) of the Social Security Act 1975, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, the Social Security Advisory Committee having agreed that the proposals on the matter should not be referred to it(1), hereby makes the following regulations:—

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Unemployment, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit and Credits) Amendment Regulations 1981 and shall come into operation on 23rd November 1981.

(2) In these regulations—

“the Benefit Regulations” means the Social Security (Unemployment, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit) Regulations 1975(2);

“the Credits Regulations” means the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 1975(3)

Amendment of regulation 10 of the Benefit Regulations

2.  For regulation 10 of the Benefit Regulations (reckoning of periods of interruption of employment) there is substituted—

“Reckoning of periods of interruption of employment

10.— (1) For the purpose of reckoning periods of interruption of employment, but for that purpose only, a person shall be deemed to be available to be employed in employed earner's employment on any day specified in paragraph (2) and any such day shall be treated as a day of unemployment.

(2) The days specified for the purpose of paragraph (1) are—

(a) any day to which regulation 7(1)(f) (days when a person is attending a training course not to be treated as days of incapacity for work) applies;

(b) any day in respect of which the person concerned is entitled to a supplementary allowance under the Supplementary Benefits Act 1976(4) if on that day regulation 6(q) of the Supplementary Benefit (Conditions of Entitlement) Regulations 1980(5) applies to him (persons of 60 and over entitled to supplementary allowance without being required to register for employment).”.

Amendment of regulation 9 of the Credits Regulations

3.  The following amendments are made to regulation 9 of the Credits Regulations (credits for unemployment or incapacity for work)—

(a) at the end of paragraph (2)(b) there is added “; or” and after that sub-paragraph there is inserted the following new sub-paragraph—

“(c) a week for any part of which the person concerned is entitled to a supplementary allowance under the Supplementary Benefits Act 1976 (6) if for that period regulation 6(q) of the Supplementary Benefit (Conditions of Entitlement) Regulations 1980(7) applies to him (persons of 60 and over entitled to supplementary allowance without being required to register for employment).”

(b) in paragraph (9), after sub-paragraph (c) there is inserted the following new sub-paragraph—

“(cc) for the purposes of sub-paragraph (c) a person shall be treated as having claimed unemployment benefit for any week if he was entitled to a credit for that week by virtue of paragraph (2)(c);”.

Norman Fowler

Secretary of State for Social Services

22nd October 1981

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These regulations amend the Social Security (Unemployment, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit) Regulations 1975 (“the Benefit Regulations”) and the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 1975 (“the Credits Regulations”). Regulation 1 relates to the citation, commencement and interpretation of these Regulations. Regulation 2, which amends regulation 10 of the Benefit Regulations, provides for treating a period when a person over 60 is receiving a supplementary allowance at the long-term rate without being required to register for employment as part of a “period of interruption of employment” for the purposes of these regulations. Regulation 3 amends regulation 9 of the Credits Regulations to enable such a person to be credited with contributions under the Social Security Act 1975.

(1)

See Social Security Act 1980 (c. 30), section 10(2)(b).

(2)

to which there are amendments not relevant to these regulations.

(3)

the only relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1977/788.

(4)

1976 c. 71.

(5)

S.I. 1980/1586; the relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1981/815 and S.I. 1981/1197.

(6)

1976 c. 71.

(7)

S.I. 1980/1586; the relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1981/815 and S.I. 1981/1197.