Explanatory note

These Regulations are made by virtue of, and are consequential upon, section 74A of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, which was inserted into that Act by section 25 of the Child Support Act 1995, and provides that where the Secretary of State is collecting maintenance payments on behalf of a person who is claiming certain social security benefits, the Secretary of State may disregard those maintenance payments for the purposes of calculating the claimant’s benefit entitlement, and may then retain any such maintenance payments collected by him.

These Regulations provide definitions of certain terms for the purposes of section 74A, and make consequential amendments to the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987.

These Regulations are made within 6 months of the coming into force of section 74A of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and are accordingly exempted by section 173(5)(b) of that Act from reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee and have not been so referred.

These Regulations do not impose a charge on businesses.