Regulation 8 Insertion of regulation 76A in the principal Regulations

After regulation 76 of the principal Regulations the following regulation shall be inserted—

“Time and manner of granting community charge benefit in respect of personal community charges in England and Wales

76A

(1)

Subject to regulations 80, 81 and 82 (withholding of benefit, payments on death and offsetting), where a person is entitled to community charge benefit in respect of his liability for a charging authority’s personal community charge, in pursuance of the 1988 Act, as it has effect in respect of the relevant or any subsequent chargeable financial year, the appropriate authority shall discharge his entitlement by reducing, so far as possible, the amount of that liability as provided in regulation 16(3) of the Community Charges (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1989 (demand notices personal community charges)^f1 (the Administration Regulations) or, so far as such reductions are not possible, by making payments to him of the benefit to which he is entitled.

(2)

The appropriate authority, in any case to which paragraph (1) applies, shall notify the person entitled to community charge benefit of the amount of that benefit and how his entitlement is to be discharged in pursuance of paragraph (1).

(3)

When payments fall to he made in pursuance of paragraph (1) to a person—

(a)

if the amount of the personal community charge for which he remains liable in respect of the relevant chargeable financial year, after any reduction to which paragraph (1) refers has been made, is insufficient to enable his entitlement to community charge benefit in respect thereof to he discharged in that year, upon the final instalment of that charge becoming due any outstanding benefit—

(i)

shall he paid to that person if he so requires; or

(ii)

in any other case shall (as the appropriate authority determines) either be repaid or credited against any subsequent liability of the person to make a payment in respect of the authority’s personal community charge as it has effect for any subsequent year;

(b)

if a person has ceased to be subject to an appropriate authority’s personal community charge and has discharged the liability for that charge, the outstanding balance (if any) of the community charge benefit in respect thereof shall be paid within 14 days or, if that is not practicable, as soon as practicable thereafter;

(c)

in any other case, the community charge benefit shall be paid within 14 days of the receipt of the claim at the designated office or, if that is not practicable, as soon as practicable thereafter.

(4)

For the purposes of this regulation “instalments” means instalments of an appropriate authority’s personal community charge to which regulation 17 of the Administration Regulations refers (personal community charges payments).”.