C1

C1

Part X Christmas bonus for pensioners

C2148 Entitlement of pensioners to Christmas bonus.

1

Any person who in any year—

a

is present or ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom F35, an EEA state or Switzerland at any time during the relevant week; and

b

is entitled to a payment of a qualifying benefit in respect of a period which includes a day in that week or is to be treated as entitled to a payment of a qualifying benefit in respect of such a period,

shall, subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act and to section 1 of the Administration Act, be entitled to payment under this subsection in respect of that year.

2

Subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, any person who is a member of a couple and is entitled to a payment under subsection (1) above in respect of a year shall also be entitled to payment under this subsection in respect of that year if—

a

both members have attained pensionable age not later than the end of the relevant week; and

b

the other member satisfies the condition mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above; and

c

either—

i

he is entitled or treated as entitled, in respect of the other member, to an increase in the payment of the qualifying benefit; or

ii

the only qualifying benefit to which he is entitled is F14state pension credit.

F282ZA

In a case where a person is entitled to a payment of armed forces independence payment, the reference in subsection (1) to section 1 of the Administration Act is to be read as a reference to article 43 of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/517).

F152A

In a case falling within paragraph (c)(ii) of subsection (2) above, paragraph (a) of that subsection has effect with the substitution of “qualifying age for state pension credit” for “pensionable age”.

3

A payment under subsection (1) or (2) above—

a

is to be made by the Secretary of State; and

b

is to be of £10 or such larger sum as the Secretary of State may by order specify.

F164

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5

Only one sum shall be payable in respect of any person.

149 Provisions supplementary to section 148.

1

For the purposes of section 148 above the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar shall be treated as though they were part of the United Kingdom.

2

A person shall be treated for the purposes of section 148(1)(b) above as entitled to a payment of a qualifying benefit if he would be so entitled—

a

in the case of a qualifying benefit F17other than state pension credit, but for the fact that he or, if he is a member of a couple, the other member is entitled to receive some other payment out of public funds;

b

in the case of F18state pension credit, but for the fact that his income or, if he is a member of a couple, the income of the other member was exceptionally of an amount which resulted in his having ceased to be entitled to F18state pension credit.

3

A person shall be treated for the purposes of section 148(2)(c)(i) above as entitled in respect of the other member of the couple to an increase in a payment of a qualifying benefit if he would be so entitled—

a

but for the fact that he or the other member is entitled to receive some other payment out of public funds;

b

but for the operation of any provision of F27... paragraph 6(4) of Schedule 7 to this Act or any regulations made under paragraph 6(3) of that Schedule whereby entitlement to benefit is affected by the amount of a person’s earnings in a given period.

4

For the purposes of section 148 above a person shall be taken not to be entitled to a payment of a war disablement pension unless not later than the end of the relevant week he has attained F33pensionable age.

5

A sum payable under section 148 above shall not be treated as benefit for the purposes of any enactment or instrument under which entitlement to the relevant qualifying benefit arises or is to be treated as arising.

6

A payment and the right to receive a payment—

a

under section 148 above or any enactment corresponding to it in Northern Ireland; or

b

under regulations relating to widows which are made by the Secretary of State under any enactment relating to police and which contain a statement that the regulations provide for payments corresponding to payments under that section,

shall be disregarded for all purposes of income tax and for the purposes of any enactment or instrument under which regard is had to a person’s means.

150 Interpretation of Part X.

1

In this Part of this Act “qualifying benefit” means—

a

a retirement pension;

F1b

long-term incapacity benefit;

F24ba

a qualifying employment and support allowance;

F31bb

personal independence payment;

F29bc

armed forces independence payment;

F36bd

adult disability payment,

c

a widowed mother’s allowanceF8, widowed parent’s allowance or widow’s pension;

F7d

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

e

F9a carer’s allowance;

f

industrial death benefit;

g

an attendance allowance;

h

an unemployability supplement or allowance;

i

a war disablement pension;

j

a war widow’s pension;

k

F19state pension credit;

F2l

a mobility supplement.

2

In this Part of this Act—

  • F37adult disability payment” means disability assistance given in accordance with the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022,

  • F30“armed forces independence payment” means armed forces independence payment under the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/517);

  • attendance allowance” means—

    1. a

      an attendance allowance;

    2. b

      a disability living allowance;

    3. c

      an increase of disablement pension under section 104 or 105 above;

    4. d

      a payment under regulations made in exercise of the powers in section 159(3)(b) of the 1975 Act or paragraph 7(2) of Schedule 8 to this Act;

    5. e

      an increase of allowance under Article 8 of the M1Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme 1983 (constant attendance allowance for certain persons to whom that Scheme applies) or under the corresponding provision of any Scheme which may replace that Scheme;

    6. f

      an allowance in respect of constant attendance on account of disablement for which a person is in receipt of war disablement pension, including an allowance in respect of exceptionally severe disablement;

    7. g

      F34a child disability payment given in accordance with regulations made under section 31 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (asp 9);

  • F3“mobility supplement” means a 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;

  • F6“pensionable age” has the meaning given by the rules in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 1995;

  • F20the qualifying age for state pension credit” is (in accordance with section 1(2)(b) and (6) of the State Pension Credit Act 2002)—

    1. a

      in the case of a woman, pensionable age; or

    2. b

      in the case of a man, the age which is pensionable age in the case of a woman born on the same day as the man;

  • F25qualifying employment and support allowance” means F26a contributory allowance under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 the calculation of the amount of which includes an addition in respect of the support component or the work-related activity component;

  • F32retirement pension” means—

    1. a

      a state pension under Part 1 of the Pensions Act 2014,

    2. b

      a retirement pension under this Act, or

    3. c

      graduated retirement benefit;

  • F20state pension credit” means state pension credit under the State Pension Credit Act 2002;

  • unemployability supplement or allowance” means—

    1. a

      an unemployability supplement payable under Part I of Schedule 7 to this Act; or

    2. b

      any corresponding allowance payable—

    3. i

      by virtue of paragraph 6(4)(a) of Schedule 8 to this Act;

    4. ii

      by way of supplement to retired pay or pension exempt from income tax under F10section 641 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003;

    5. iii

      under the M2Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act 1939; F4...

    6. iv

      by way of supplement to retired pay or pension under the M3Polish Resettlement Act 1947; F5or

    7. v

      F11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  • war disablement pension” means—

    1. a

      any retired pay, pension or allowance granted in respect of disablement under powers conferred by or under the M4Air Force (Constitution) Act 1917, the M5Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act 1939, the Pensions (Navy, Army, Air Force and Mercantile Marine) Act 1939, the Polish Resettlement Act 1947, or Part VII or section 151 of the M6Reserve Forces Act 1980;

    2. b

      without prejudice to paragraph (a) of this definition, any retired pay or pension to which F12any of paragraphs (a) to (f) of section 641(1) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 applies;

  • war widow’s pension” means any widow’s F21or surviving civil partner's pension or allowance granted in respect of a death due to service or war injury and payable by virtue of any enactment mentioned in paragraph (a) of the preceding definition or a pension or allowance for a widow F22or surviving civil partner granted under any scheme mentioned in F13section 641(1)(e) or (f) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003;

and each of the following expressions, namely “attendance allowance”, “unemployability supplement or allowance”, “war disablement pension” and “war widow’s pension”, includes any payment which the Secretary of State accepts as being analogous to it.

F233

In this Part of this Act, “couple” has the meaning given by section 137(1) above.

4

In this Part of this Act “the relevant week”, in relation to any year, means the week beginning with the first Monday in December or such other week as may be specified in an order made by the Secretary of State.