The Community Charge Benefits (General) Regulations 1989

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations have effect to provide for matters concerning entitlement to, the amount of and the claiming and payment of community charge benefits in respect of a person’s liability for personal community charges or collective community charge contributions under the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc (Scotland) Act 1987 (c. 47) or the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (c. 41).

Part I contains general provisions affecting the citation, commencement and interpretation of the Regulations (regulations 1 to 3).

Part II specifies the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as responsible for another person and who is to be treated as a member of the same household as a claimant for community charge benefits (regulations 4 to 6).

Part III and Schedule 1 provide for the calculation of the applicable amount for the purpose of determining a person’s entitlement to community charge benefits. Provision is made with respect to polygamous marriages and persons receiving free in-patient treatment in a hospital (regulations 7–9).

Part IV provides for the calculation of a claimant’s income and capital, in particular the earnings of employed and self-employed earners, the treatment of income other than earnings and notional income, with income to be disregarded set out in Schedules 2 and 3. Calculation of a person’s capital is also dealt with, with capital to be disregarded set out in Schedule 4 (regulations 10 to 35).

Part V contains additional provisions relating to students (regulations 36–45).

Part VI specifies the amount of benefit to which a person is entitled and the calculation of the amount to be paid to couples, the members of polygamous marriages and partners of students undertaking full time courses of education (regulations 46 to 52).

Part VII governs the starting and ending of benefit periods, in particular where there has been a change in a claimant’s circumstances. It also provides for calculating weekly entitlement to benefit (regulations 53 to 58).

Part VIII provides for the making of claims and the duty to notify changes in circumstances (regulations 59 to 63).

Part IX and Schedules 5 and 6 provide for the determination of questions on claims and reviews of such determinations (regulations 64 to 75).

Part X provides for awarding or paying of community charge benefits and specifies to whom awards and payments are to be made (regulations 76 to 82).

Part XI provides for the recovery of excess benefit, what benefits an authority may recover and the method of recovery (regulations 83 to 91).

Part XII provides for the exchange of information between the Secretary of State and charging and levying authorities in connection with their respective functions under the benefit Acts and with respect to community charge benefits (regulations 92 and 93).

“The Report of the Social Security Advisory Committee dated July 1989 on the draft of these Regulations which have been referred to them, together with a statement showing why the Regulations do not give effect to the committee’s recommendations is contained in Command Paper No. 760 published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.”