The Social Security (Child Benefit Consequential) Regulations 1977

Amendment of the Social Security Benefit (Persons Abroad) Regulations 1975

13.—(1) The Social Security Benefit (Persons Abroad) Regulations 1975, as amended(1), shall be further amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In paragraph (2) of regulation 1 (interpretation)—

(a) after the definition of “the Act” there shall be inserted the following definition—

“`the Child Benefit Act' means the Child Benefit Act 1975”;

(b) after the definition of “widow's benefit” and “widow's pension” there shall be added the following definitions—

“`child benefit' means benefit under Part I of the Child Benefit Act;

“`entitled to child benefit' includes treated as so entitled;”.

(3) In regulation 5 (application of disqualification in respect of up-rating of benefit)—

(a) in paragraph (3), after sub-paragraph (e) there shall be added the following sub-paragraph—

“(f) any additional guardian's allowance in respect of a child if he were entitled to that allowance in respect of that child before the appointed date.”.

(b) paragraph (4) shall be omitted.

(4) In regulation 7(1)(j) (modification of the Act in relation to death grant) there shall be substituted for the words from “child of the family” down to the end of the sub-paragraph, the words “`entitled to child benefit' or `entitled at that person's death to child benefit' contained in section 32(2) shall be deemed to include cases where child benefit would have been payable but for the provisions of section 13(2)(a) of the Child Benefit Act (subject to regulations, benefit not to be payable in respect of a child for any week unless that child is in Great Britain in that week); or”.

(5) After regulation 13 there shall be inserted the following regulation:—

“Modification of the Act in relation to title to benefit for beneficiary's child dependants

13A.— (1) By reason only of the fact that he is not entitled to child benefit in respect of a child, a person shall not be disentitled from receiving a benefit or an allowance or an increase of a benefit or an allowance under the Act in respect of a child (hereafter in this regulation referred to as “child dependency benefit”) in respect of that child for any period during which he and the child are, or the child is, absent from Great Britain in a country in circumstances in which he would, in pursuance of any agreement with the government of a country outside the United Kingdom, be entitled to receive child dependency benefit in respect of the child were he entitled to child benefit in respect of the child if—

(a) he would, or could, had he made an appropriate claim, have been entitled to child benefit in respect of the child had all the requirements of section 13(2) and (3) of the Child Benefit Act (requirements as to presence in Great Britain) been satisfied; and

(b) in a case where he would not be treated for the purposes of the Child Benefit Act as having the child living with him, he is contributing to the cost of providing for the child, in addition to any contribution he may be required to make under the Act, at a weekly rate not less than that of the child benefit which would be payable to him in respect of the child were child benefit so payable to him; and

(c) no other person is entitled to child benefit in respect of the child.

(2) For any period during which a person who is absent from Great Britain would satisfy the requirements of paragraph (1) in relation to a child but for the fact that that child is present in Great Britain, that child shall, for the purposes of that paragraph, be treated as being present in the country in which that person is.

(3) By reason only of the fact that he is not entitled to child benefit in respect of a child, a person shall not be disentitled from receiving child dependency benefit in respect of that child for any period during which he or the child is, or both of them are, absent from Great Britain in circumstances in which, otherwise than in pursuance of such an agreement as is referred to in paragraph (1) or of regulations made under section 142 of the Act (co-ordination with Northern Ireland) were he entitled to child benefit in respect of the child he would be entitled to receive child dependency benefit in respect of the child if—

(a) he would, or could had he made an appropriate claim, have been entitled to child benefit in respect of the child had all the requirements of section 13(2) and (3) of the Child Benefit Act (requirements as to presence in Great Britain) been satisfied; and

(b) in a case where he would not be treated for the purposes of the Child Benefit Act as having the child living with him, he is contributing to the cost of providing for the child, in addition to any contribution he may be required to make under the Act, at a weekly rate not less than that of the child benefit which would be payable to him in respect of the child were child benefit so payable to him; and

(c) he establishes that any absence from Great Britain of himself or the child was, when it began, intended to be temporary and has throughout continued to be temporary; and

(d) no other person is entitled to child benefit in respect of the child.

(4) For the purpose of paragraph (1), such a person or child as is there referred to may be treated as being absent from Great Britain notwithstanding that he has not previously been present in Great Britain; and for the purposes of paragraph (3), a child born during the absence from Great Britain of his mother shall, if she was pregnant of that child at a time when she was present in Great Britain, be treated as having been present in Great Britain on the date on which his mother was last present in Great Britain before the child was born.

(5) Where a person—

(a) immediately before returning to Great Britain was entitled to receive child dependency benefit in respect of a child; and

(b) would on his return to Great Britain have continued to be entitled to receive child dependency benefit in respect of that child were he entitled to child benefit in respect of the child,

he shall not be disentitled from receiving child dependency benefit in respect of the child by reason only of the fact that he is not entitled to child benefit in respect of the child if—

(i) he would, or could had he made an appropriate claim, have been entitled to child benefit in respect of the child had all the requirements of section 13(2) and (3) of the Child Benefit Act (requirements as to presence in Great Britain) been satisfied; and

(ii) in a case where he would not be treated for the purposes of the Child Benefit Act as having the child living with him, he is contributing to the cost of providing for the child, in addition to any contribution he may be required to make under the Act, at a weekly rate not less than that of the child benefit which would be payable to him in respect of the child were child benefit so payable to him; and

(iii) no other person is entitled to child benefit in respect of the child.

(6) Where a person who was absent from Great Britain immediately before 4th April 1977 (the date on which child benefit first becomes payable) or a subsequent date on which the rate or any of the rates of child benefit is or are increased—

(a) is entitled to receive child dependency benefit in respect of a child for a continuous period beginning before and continuing after that date; and

(b) no other person is entitled to child benefit in respect of that child for that period,

any provision made pursuant to section 17(1) or (4) of the Child Benefit Act whereby, having regard to the introduction of child benefit or to an increase in the rate or any of the rates of child benefit, the weekly rate of child dependency benefit payable in respect of that child would be subject to a reduction shall not have effect so as (by reason only of that reduction) to reduce the total weekly rate of benefit (including benefit (if any) which is not child dependency benefit payable in respect of that child) payable to that person below the total weekly rate of such benefit payable to him immediately before that date.”.

(1)

There is no amendment relevant to the subject matter of these regulations.