Regulation 16 Addition of regulation 57 to the Maintenance Assessment Procedure Regulations

After regulation 56 of the Maintenance Assessment Procedure Regulations there shall be added the following regulation–

“Action by the Secretary of State on receipt of an application under section 17 or 18 of the Act where a question as to the entitlement to benefit arises

57

(1)

Where an application for a review under section 17 or 18 of the Act has been made to the Secretary of State and he is of the opinion that the application gives rise to a question as to the entitlement to benefit of any person, he may disclose the information contained in that application to an adjudication officer or, in the case of housing benefit or council tax benefit, to an appropriate authority.

(2)

Where the Secretary of State discloses information under paragraph (1), he need not refer the application to a child support officer earlier than the expiration of a period of 28 days beginning with the date prescribed in paragraph (3).

(3)

The date prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (2) is the second day after the date the Secretary of State receives the application for a review under section 17 or 18 of the Act, excluding any Saturday, Sunday, or any day which is a bank holiday in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971^f1.

(4)

In this regulation–

(a)

“benefit” is to be construed in accordance with the benefit Acts;

(b)

“appropriate authority” means–

(i)

in relation to housing benefit, the housing or local authority concerned; and

(ii)

in relation to council tax benefit the billing authority or, in Scotland, the levying authority.”.