{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/child-support-miscellaneous-amendments-no-2-regulations-1999/regulation-44",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/child-support-miscellaneous-amendments-no-2-regulations-1999/regulation-44.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/1999/1047",
  "legislation_title": "The Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 1999",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/child-support-miscellaneous-amendments-no-2-regulations-1999",
  "path": "regulation/44",
  "kind": "regulation",
  "number": "44",
  "heading": "Insertion of regulations 32A to 32G",
  "text": "After regulation 32 there shall be inserted the following regulations–\n“ Revision of decisions\n32A (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a decision of the Secretary of State or any decision upon referral under section 28D(1)(b) of an appeal tribunal with respect to a departure direction may be revised by the Secretary of State under section 16 of the Act as extended by paragraph 1 of Schedule 4C to the Act–\n(a) if the Secretary of State receives an application for the revision of a decision under section 16 of the Act as extended within one month of the date of notification of the decision or within such longer time as may be allowed by regulation 32B;\n(b) if–\n(i) the Secretary of State notifies a person, who applied for a decision to be revised within the period specified in sub-paragraph (a), that the application is unsuccessful because the Secretary of State is not in possession of all of the information or evidence needed to make a decision; and\n(ii) that person reapplies for a decision to be revised within one month of the notification described in head (i) above or such longer period as the Secretary of State is satisfied is reasonable in the circumstances of the case, and provides in that application sufficient information or evidence to enable a decision to be made;\n(c) if the decision arose from an official error;\n(d) if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the original decision was erroneous due to a misrepresentation of, or failure to disclose, a material fact and that the decision was more advantageous to the person who misrepresented or failed to disclose that fact than it would otherwise have been but for that error;\n(e) where a departure direction takes effect in the circumstances described in regulation 35(3); or\n(f) if the Secretary of State commences action leading to the revision of a decision within one month of the date of notification of the decision.\n(2) Paragraph (1) shall apply neither–\n(a) in respect of a material change of circumstances which–\n(i) occurred since the date from which the decision had effect; or\n(ii) is expected, according to information or evidence which the Secretary of State has, to occur; nor\n(b) where–\n(i) an appeal against the original decision has been brought but not determined; and\n(ii) from the point of view of the appellant, a revision, if made, would be less to his advantage than the original decision.\nLate applications for a revision\n32B (1) The period of one month specified in regulation 32A(1)(a) may be extended where the requirements specified in the following provisions of this regulation are met.\n(2) An application for an extension of time shall be made by a relevant person or a person acting on his behalf.\n(3) An application for an extension of time under this regulation shall–\n(a) be made within 13 months of the date on which notification of the decision which it is sought to have revised was given or sent; and\n(b) contain particulars of the grounds on which the extension of time is sought and shall contain sufficient details of the decision which it is sought to have revised to enable that decision to be identified.\n(4) The application for an extension of time shall not be granted unless the person making the application, or any person acting for him, satisfies the Secretary of State that–\n(a) it is reasonable to grant that application;\n(b) the application for the decision to be revised has merit; and\n(c) special circumstances are relevant to the application for an extension of time,\nand as a result of those special circumstances, it was not practicable for the application for a decision to be revised to be made within one month of the date of notification of the decision which it is sought to have revised.\n(5) In determining whether it is reasonable to grant an application for an extension of time, the Secretary of State shall have regard to the principle that the greater the time that has elapsed between the expiration of the period of one month described in regulation 32A(1)(a) from the date of notification of the decision which it is sought to have revised and the making of the application for an extension of time, the more compelling should be the special circumstances on which the application is based.\n(6) In determining whether it is reasonable to grant an application for an extension of time, no account shall be taken of the following–\n(a) that the person making the application for an extension of time or any person acting for him was unaware of or misunderstood the law applicable to his case (including ignorance or misunderstanding of the time limits imposed by these Regulations);\n(b) that a Child Support Commissioner or a court has taken a different view of the law from that previously understood and applied.\n(7) An application under this regulation for an extension of time which has been refused may not be renewed.\nDate from which a revision of a decision takes effect\n32C Where the date from which a decision took effect is found to be erroneous on a revision, the revision shall take effect from the date on which the revised decision would have taken effect had the error not been made.\nSupersession of decisions\n32D (1) For the purposes of section 17 of the Act as it applies in relation to decisions with respect to departure directions by virtue of paragraph 2 of Schedule 4C to the Act and subject to paragraphs (6), (9) and (10), the cases and circumstances in which a decision with respect to a departure direction may be made under that section are set out in paragraphs (2) to (5).\n(2) A decision may be superseded by a decision made by the Secretary of State acting on his own initiative where he is satisfied that–\n(a) there has been a material change of circumstances since the decision was made; or\n(b) the decision was made in ignorance of, or was based upon a mistake as to, some material fact.\n(3) A decision may be superseded by a decision made by the Secretary of State where–\n(a) an application is made on the basis that–\n(i) there has been a change of circumstances since the decision was made; or\n(ii) it is expected that a change of circumstances will occur; and\n(b) the Secretary of State is satisfied that the change of circumstances is or would be material.\n(4) A decision may be superseded by a decision made by the Secretary of State where–\n(a) an application is made on the basis that the decision was made in ignorance of, or was based upon a mistake as to, a fact; and\n(b) the Secretary of State is satisfied that the fact is or would be material.\n(5) A decision, other than a decision given on appeal, may be superseded by a decision made by the Secretary of State–\n(a) where an application is made on the basis that the decision was erroneous in point of law; or\n(b) acting on his own initiative where he is satisfied that the decision was erroneous in point of law.\n(6) Subject to paragraph (7), paragraphs (2)(a) and (3) shall not apply where, if a decision were to be superseded in accordance with section 17 of the Act, the difference between the current amount and the revised amount would be less than £1.00 per week.\n(7) Paragraph (6) shall not apply where the Secretary of State is satisfied on the information or evidence available to him that a ground on which the decision to be superseded was made no longer applies.\n(8) In paragraph (6) “revised amount\" means the amount of child support maintenance which would be fixed if a decision with respect to a maintenance assessment were to be superseded by a decision made by the Secretary of State in accordance with paragraphs (2)(a) and (3) but for the operation of paragraph (6).\n(9) The cases and circumstances in which a decision may be superseded by a decision made by the Secretary of State shall not include any case or circumstance in which a decision may be revised.\n(10) Subject to paragraph (11), paragraphs (2) to (5) shall apply in respect of neither–\n(a) a decision to reject or refuse an application for a departure direction; nor\n(b) a decision to cancel a departure direction.\n(11) Paragraph (10) above shall not apply in a case to which either paragraph (2) or (3) of regulation 35 applies.\nDate from which a superseding decision takes effect\n32E (1) This regulation contains exceptions to the provisions of section 17(4) of the Act, as it applies in relation to decisions with respect to departure directions by virtue of paragraph 2 of Schedule 4C to the Act, as to the date from which decisions which supersede earlier decisions are to take effect.\n(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (5), where–\n(a) a decision is made by the Secretary of State which supersedes an earlier decision in consequence of an application having been made under section 17 of the Act as it applies in relation to decisions with respect to departure directions by virtue of paragraph 2 of Schedule 4C to the Act; and\n(b) the date on which the application is made is not the first day in a maintenance period, the decision shall take effect as from the first day of the maintenance period in which the application is made.\n(3) Where a decision is superseded by a decision made by the Secretary of State in a case to which regulation 32D(2)(a) applies on the basis of evidence or information which was also the basis of a decision made under section 9 or 10 of the Social Security Act 1998 the superseding decision under section 17 of the Act as extended by paragraph 2 of Schedule 7 to the Act shall take effect as from the first day of the maintenance period in which that evidence or information was first brought to the attention of an officer exercising the functions of the Secretary of State under the Act.\n(4) Where a decision is superseded by a decision made by the Secretary of State under regulation 32D(3) in consequence of an application made on the basis that a material change of circumstances is expected to occur, the superseding decision shall take effect as from the first day of the maintenance period which immediately succeeds the maintenance period in which the material change of circumstances is expected to occur.\n(5) Where the Secretary of State makes, on his own initiative, a decision superseding a decision in consequence of evidence or information contained in an unsuccessful application for a revision of that decision, the superseding decision shall take effect as from the first day of the maintenance period in which that application was made.\n(6) Where–\n(a) a decision made by an appeal tribunal under section 20 of the Act as extended by paragraph 3 of Schedule 4C to the Act is superseded on the ground that it was erroneous due to a misrepresentation of, or that there was a failure to disclose, a material fact; and\n(b) the Secretary of State is satisfied that the decision was more advantageous to the person who misrepresented or failed to disclose that fact than it would otherwise have been but for that error,\nthe superseding decision shall take effect as from the date the decision it superseded took, or was to take, effect.\n(7) Any decision given under section 17 of the Act as extended by paragraph 2 of Schedule 4C to the Act in consequence of a decision which is a relevant determination for the purposes of section 28ZC of the Act (restrictions on liability in certain cases of error) shall take effect as from the date of the relevant determination.\n(8) Where a decision with respect to a departure direction is superseded by a decision under section 17 of the Act as extended by paragraph 2 of Schedule 4C to the Act because the departure direction ceases to have effect in accordance with regulation 35(1), the superseding decision shall have effect as from the date on which the decision that the maintenance assessment is cancelled or ceases to have effect, takes or took effect.\n(9) Where the superseding decision referred to in paragraph (8) above is itself superseded by a further decision made under section 17 of the Act as extended by paragraph 2 of Schedule 4C to the Act in the circumstances described in regulation 35(2), that further decision shall have effect as from the effective date of the fresh maintenance assessment.\n(10) Where a decision with respect to a departure direction is superseded by a decision under section 17 of the Act as extended by paragraph 2 of Schedule 4C to the Act because the departure direction is suspended in accordance with regulation 35(4), the superseding decision shall have effect as from the effective date of the later interim maintenance assessment or, as the case may be, the interim maintenance assessment which replaces a maintenance assessment.\n(11) Where the superseding decision referred to in paragraph (10) above is itself superseded by a further decision under section 17 as extended because the interim maintenance assessment referred to in regulation 35(4)(c) is followed by a maintenance assessment made in accordance with the provisions of Part I of Schedule 1 to the Act or by an interim maintenance assessment to which regulation 10 does not apply, that further decision shall have effect as from the effective date of the fresh maintenance assessment or, as the case may be, interim maintenance assessment.\nCancellation of departure directions\n32F The Secretary of State may cancel a departure direction where–\n(a) regulation 32A(1) applies and he is satisfied that it was not appropriate to have given it; or\n(b) regulation 32D applies and he is satisfied that it is no longer appropriate for it to continue to have effect.\nNotification of right of appeal, decision and reasons for decision\n32G (1) The Secretary of State shall notify a person with a right of appeal under the Act against the decision under section 16 or 17 of the Act as those sections apply in relation to decisions with respect to departure directions by virtue of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 4C to the Act with respect to a departure direction of–\n(a) that right;\n(b) that decision; and\n(c) the reasons for that decision.\n(2) A written notice provided under paragraph (1)–\n(a) shall also contain sufficient information to enable a relevant person to exercise a right of appeal; and\n(b) shall not contain any information which it is not necessary for a person to have in order to understand how the decision was reached.”.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "M",
      "label": "M1",
      "text": "Section 28ZC was inserted by section 44 of the Social Security Act 1998 (c. 14)."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/1047/regulation/44",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T10:51:37.137362+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}