Regulation 27 Amendment of the Housing Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations

at the end of paragraph (3) there shall be added the words “, except that where the relevant authority considers that the conditions in paragraphs (5)(b) to (9) are satisfied the relevant authority may grant the application. ”;

for paragraph (5) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(5)

An application for an extension of time shall not be granted unless—

(a)

the panel member is satisfied that, if the application is granted, there are reasonable prospects that the appeal will be successful; or

(b)

the panel member or the relevant authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice for the application to be granted.”;

in paragraph (6) after the words “panel member” there shall be inserted the words “or the relevant authority, as the case may be,”; and

in paragraph (8) for the words “the panel member shall have regard” there shall be substituted the words “regard shall be had”.