Explanatory note

These Regulations are either made by virtue of, or consequential upon, sections 1 to 17 of the State Pension Credit Act 2002 (c. 16). They are made before the end of the period of six months beginning with the coming into force of those sections of that Act and are therefore exempt in accordance with section 173(5) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (c. 5) from the requirement in section 172(1) of that Act to refer proposals to make these Regulations to the Social Security Advisory Committee and are made without reference to that Committee.

Regulation 2 and the Schedule amend the State Pension Credit Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1792) (“the principal Regulations”). In particular they—

• amend the definition of “care home” and insert a new definition of “voluntary organisation” (paragraph 1);

• provide that persons who are not habitually resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland or who are subject to immigration control within the meaning of section 115(9) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (c. 33) are not to be treated as being members of the same household as the claimant (paragraph 2);

• add a new category of retirement pension income (paragraph 4(a) and (c));

• make a change which is consequential on the amendment in regulation 3(1) (paragraph 5);

• remove otiose rules in relation to the treatment of capital derived from personal injury payments (paragraph 6);

• prescribe how the transitional amount is to be calculated where a person’s applicable amount in respect of housing costs in income support and jobseeker’s allowance include an amount for housing costs calculated on a transitional basis (paragraph 8(c)(ii));

• prescribe rules as to when amounts of loans used to calculate housing costs shall be recalculated (paragraph 9(e));

• make changes to the rules on disregarded income and capital (paragraphs 11 to 13);

• correct minor errors and make certain other clarifications (paragraphs 3, 4(b), 5, 7, 8(a) to (c)(i), 9(a) to (d), (f) and (g) and 10).

Regulation 3 makes further modifications to the rules applying in state pension credit in relation to the treatment of earnings of employed and self-employed earners.

Regulation 4 makes changes to certain of the amounts prescribed in the principal Regulations in respect of the standard minimum guarantee and the prescribed additional amounts.

Regulation 5 amends the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 (S.I. 1987/1968) so as to prescribe the cases where payment of mortgage interest payments may be made directly to qualifying lenders in state pension credit cases and makes consequential amendments (paragraphs (2) to (4) and (5)(a) to (c), (e) and (f)) and modify the rule as to when housing costs may be paid directly to such lenders where the claimant was previously in receipt of income support or jobseeker’s allowance paragraph 5(d)).

Regulation 6 amends the Social Security and Child Support (Decision Making and Appeals) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/991) so as to prescribe rules as to when superseding decisions may take effect where non-dependant deductions for housing costs purposes become applicable or the amount of a non-dependant’s income increases.

Regulation 7(1) to (3) respectively make consequential amendments to the Social Security (Child Maintenance Bonus) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/3195), to the Social Security (Back to Work Bonus) (No. 2) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/2570) and to the Community Charges (Deductions from Income Support) (Scotland) Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989/507).

Regulation 7(4) amends the transitional provisions in the State Pension Credit (Consequential, Transitional and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/3019) in relation to those claiming income support immediately before the appointed day, who are patients on that day and who immediately before becoming patients, were in residential accommodation.

These Regulations do not impose a charge on business.