Income Support
(Jersey) Law 2007
A LAW to establish a benefits scheme
for households with low income, to make minor amendments to related legislation
and for connected purposes
Commencement [see endnotes]
part 1
introductory provisions
1 Interpretation
(1) In
this Law, unless the context otherwise provides –
“adult” means
a person over compulsory school age;
“award” means
the amount of income support or a special payment that it has been determined a
household or a person, as the case may be, should be awarded;
“calculated income”
shall be construed in accordance with Article 7;
“care package”
means an arrangement for providing care for a person;
“child” means
a person below the upper limit of compulsory school age;
“claimant”
means a person claiming income support or a special payment;
“compulsory school
age” shall be construed in accordance with Article 2 of the Education
(Jersey) Law 1999;
“day care”
means the looking after a child by a day carer, or in day care accommodation,
in circumstances regulated by the Day
Care of Children (Jersey) Law 2002;
“determining officer”
has the meaning assigned by Article 9(1)(a);
“eligible household”
means a household comprising one or more persons eligible for income support;
“income support”
shall be construed in accordance with Article 5;
“Medical Appeal
Tribunal” means the Medical Appeal Tribunal constituted under Article 9(2)(a);
“Minister”
means the Minister for Social Security;
“prescribed”
means specified or determined in accordance with an Order made by the Minister;
“special payment”
means a payment under Article 8.[1]
(2) The
Minister may, by Order, amend the definition “day care” in
paragraph (1).[2]
(3) An
Order made under paragraph (2) may, for the purposes of the definition,
establish or approve a scheme for the accreditation, whether by the Minister or
by a person designated by the Minister, of either or both of –
(a) a
person as a provider of day care;
(b) premises
as a place at which day care is provided.[3]
part 2
income support
2 Eligibility
for income support
(1) A
person is eligible for income support if the person –
(a) is an
adult;
(b) has
been ordinarily resident in Jersey for such period as may be prescribed;
(c) is a
member of a household of which all the adult members are engaged in full time
remunerative work or exempted under Article 3; and
(d) is a
member of a household whose calculated income entitles the household to receive
income support under Article 6.
(2) Orders
may prescribe particular circumstances in which a person is to be treated or
not treated for the purposes of this Article as –
(a) ordinarily
resident in Jersey; or
(b) a
member of the same household as another person.
3 Persons
eligible despite not being engaged in full time remunerative work
(1) The
following persons are exempted from the requirement to be engaged in full time
remunerative work under Article 2(1)(c) –
(a) persons
who have attained their pensionable age, determined in accordance with Article 1A
of and Schedule 1AA to the Social
Security (Jersey) Law 1974;
(b) persons
with the main responsibility for the physical care of any child who is a member
of the same household – until the 1st September that is or precedes
the child’s 4th birthday;
(c) persons
with the main responsibility for the physical care of any child who is a member
of the same household – from the 1st September described in
sub-paragraph (b);
(d) persons
incapable of full time work due to any physical, sensory or mental impairment;
(e) persons
undergoing education or training on any course approved by the Minister for the
purposes of this Article;
(f) persons
with the main responsibility for the physical care of any person with such
degree of physical, sensory or mental impairment as would make the carer
eligible to claim a special component under Article 5(3)(d);
(g) persons
available for, and actively seeking, full time remunerative work;
(h) persons
remanded in custody or detained by virtue of a sentence of imprisonment, youth
detention or similar punishment (whether in Jersey or elsewhere).[4]
(2) However –
(a) not
more than one person may be treated as having the main responsibility for the
physical care of a person mentioned in paragraph (1)(f);
(aa) where more
than one person is treated as having the main responsibility for the physical
care of a child mentioned in paragraph (1)(b) or (c), those persons are
only eligible for income support if they both comply with paragraph (2A);
(b) persons
mentioned in paragraph (1)(c) to (f) are only eligible for income support if
they comply with paragraph (2A).[5]
(2A) The
persons must be engaged in, or available for and actively seeking, remunerative
work for such hours (if any) as the determining officer considers appropriate
to their particular circumstances.[6]
(3) The
States may by Regulations –
(a) amend
this Article (apart from this paragraph); and
(b) provide
for the purposes of this Article –
(i) what is or is not
to be treated as remunerative work and what amount of work is to be considered
as full time, generally or in any particular circumstances, and
(ii) the
circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as being available
for, and actively seeking, remunerative work.[7]
4 Claims
for income support
(1) A
person who is eligible for income support may make a claim to the Minister and
such claim shall be treated as being made on behalf of the household of which
the person is a member.
(2) Only
one claim for income support may be made at any one time on behalf of any one
eligible household.
(3) Orders
may prescribe –
(a) the
manner in which a claim for income support is to be made;
(b) the
circumstances in which a claim for income support may be backdated;
(c) the
information and evidence that must be provided in support of a claim;
(d) the
method, timing and notification of payments;
(e) when,
by whom and in what circumstances notice must be given of any change of
circumstances affecting the continuance of entitlement to income support;
(ea) the
circumstances in which payments may be suspended or withheld;
(f) provisions
relating to payments in the event of a death; and
(g) procedures
for handling claims on behalf of persons who cannot act for themselves.[8]
5 Components
and rate of income support
(1) Income
support is a weekly allowance made up of basic and special components payable
to each eligible household.
(2) The
basic components are –
(a) a
rate for each adult in the household not included in sub-paragraph (b);
(b) a
rate for an adult who is (but for any adult specified in paragraph (2A))
the sole adult in a household –
(i) in respect of
which there is an entitlement to the component referred to in sub-paragraph (c),
or
(ii) in
which, even though there is no such entitlement, there are one or more other
adults in the household each of whom is an adult specified in paragraph (2A);
(c) a
rate for the first child in the household;
(ca) a rate for
each child in the household except the child in respect of which the rate
referred to in sub-paragraph (c) is applied;
(d) a
rate in respect of each household.[9]
(2A) An
adult specified in this paragraph is an adult who is –
(a) any
of the following –
(i) a son of the
adult referred to in paragraph (2)(b) as the sole adult,
(ii) a
daughter of the adult referred to in paragraph (2)(b) as the sole adult,
(iii) a
person whom the adult referred to in paragraph (2)(b) as the sole adult
has parental responsibility for, or otherwise cares for, as part of a family
unit;
(b) less
than 19 years old; and
(c) in
full-time education in Jersey.[10]
(3) The
special components are –
(a) a
rate in respect of the reasonable housing costs of the household;
(b) a
rate in respect of any person in the household who has a physical, sensory or
mental impairment;
(c) a
rate in respect of the reasonable costs of the day care of any child in the
household or employing a nanny accredited by the Jersey Child Care Trust to
look after that child;
(d) a
rate in respect of any person in the household who has the main responsibility
for caring for a person with such degree of physical, sensory or mental
impairment as is specified by Regulations made by the States.[11]
(3A) Subject
to paragraph (3B), the Minister may require –
(a) an
assessment to be made for the purpose of ascertaining the nature and degree of
a person’s physical, sensory or mental impairment;
(b) approval
of a care package in respect of a person’s physical, sensory or mental
impairment; or
(c) both
an assessment to be made in accordance with sub-paragraph (a) and an
approval to be given in accordance with sub-paragraph (b),
in support of a claim
under Article 4 to entitlement of the person’s household to the
special component referred to in paragraph (3)(b).[12]
(3B) The
Minister –
(a) shall,
by Order, make provision –
(i) specifying the
descriptions of persons who may make assessments or give approvals required
pursuant to paragraph (3A),
(ii) for
the approval of persons referred to in clause (i),
(iii) for
appeals against decisions regarding approval of persons referred to in clause (i)
to be made to the Royal Court,
(iv) specifying
procedures for making assessments or giving approvals required pursuant to
sub-paragraph (3A),
(v) for reassessments of assessments
or decisions regarding approvals required pursuant to sub-paragraph (3A),
(vi) for
reviews, on medical grounds, of reassessments referred to in clause (v) to
be made by the Medical Appeal Tribunal, and
(vii) for appeals
against decisions of the Medical Appeal Tribunal on questions of law to be made
to the Royal Court; and
(b) may,
by Order, make such other provision as he or she thinks fit in relation to
assessments or approvals required pursuant to paragraph (3A).[13]
(4) The
States shall make Regulations setting out the criteria to be used when
determining to which components an eligible household is entitled.
(5) Rates
for each of the components (which, in the case of special components, may vary
according to specified circumstances) shall be specified in Regulations and the
amounts there specified shall be reviewed by the Minister at intervals not
exceeding one year and the Minister shall make such recommendations to the
States with respect to the Regulations as the Minister considers appropriate.
(6) In
reviewing the rates the Minister shall have regard to any changes in the cost
of living and in the general standards of living of the community, together
with any other factors that the Minister considers relevant.
(7) The
States may by Regulations amend paragraph (2), (3) or (3A).[14]
6 Calculation
of award of income support
(1) If
the calculated income of a household is less than the total of the rates for
each component of income support to which the household is entitled, the
household is entitled to an award of income support from the Minister.
(2) The
amount of income support that an eligible household is entitled to receive is
the total of the rates for each such component minus the calculated income of
the household.
(3) However,
no income support shall be payable if the amount that would otherwise be
payable is less than £1 a week or such greater amount as may be prescribed.
7 Calculated
income
(1) The
calculated income of an eligible household is the total weekly income of the
household calculated or estimated in such manner as may be prescribed and
Orders may provide for the calculation to be made by reference to an average
over a given period of time (which need not include the week concerned).
(2) Orders
made under this Article may prescribe the extent to which –
(a) capital
is to be treated as providing an income;
(b) income
is to be treated as capital;
(c) any percentage
of income is to be disregarded;
(d) any
capital is to be disregarded for the purposes of assessing income; and
(e) income
or capital that would otherwise not be treated as income or capital is
nevertheless to be treated as income or capital.
(3) A
determining officer may, in exceptional circumstances, disregard any capital or
income that an Order under this Article would otherwise require to be taken
into account.
PART 3
special PAYMENTS
8 Special
payments
(1) The
States may, by Regulations, provide for the Minister to make special payments
of such amounts and in such circumstances as the Regulations may specify to any
person ordinarily resident in Jersey, whether or not the person is part of an
eligible household, to defray such expenses or categories of expenses payable
by that person as the Regulations may specify.
(2) Without
prejudice to paragraph (1), the Minister may, in exceptional
circumstances, make special payments of such amount as the Minister considers
appropriate to any person ordinarily resident in Jersey, whether or not that
person is part of an eligible household.
(3) Subject
to paragraph (4), the Minister may, in exceptional circumstances, make
special payments of such amount as the Minister considers appropriate to a
person who (though not ordinarily resident in Jersey) is temporarily in Jersey,
whether or not that person is part of an eligible household.
(4) The
States may by Regulations prescribe a maximum limit of the amount of any
special payment that may be made under paragraph (3).
(5) A
special payment may be in the form of a loan, and if so, the loan shall be
subject to such conditions (if any), including as to the payment of interest,
as the Minister considers appropriate.
(6) Orders
may prescribe –
(a) the
manner in which a claim for a special payment is to be made;
(b) the
information and evidence that must be provided in support of a claim;
(ba) circumstances
in which special payments may be suspended or withheld;
(c) the
method, timing and notification of special payments;
(d) provisions
relating to special payments in the event of a death; and
(e) procedures
for handling claims on behalf of persons who cannot act for themselves.[15]
part 4
ADMINISTRATION AND
ENFORCEMENT
9 Determination of claims
(1) Subject
to the provisions of this Law, Orders shall provide –
(a) for
the determination of any claim under Part 2 or Article 8(1) by one or
more officers appointed by the Minister, to be known as determining officers;
and
(b) if
the claimant or an adult member of the claimant’s household is
dissatisfied with any determination under paragraph (1)(a), any decision
of the determining officer under Article 11 or any review under Article 12,
for the matter to be reconsidered by a second determining officer.
(2) Orders
under paragraph (1) shall further provide –
(a) for reviews on medical grounds to be made by
a Medical Appeal Tribunal constituted as prescribed;
(b) for appeals on non-medical grounds to be
made to the Social Security Tribunal constituted under
Schedule 4 to the Social
Security (Jersey) Law 1974; and
(c) for appeals from any such Tribunal on
questions of law to be made to the Royal Court.
(3) However,
a Tribunal mentioned in paragraph (2) shall not have jurisdiction unless a
second determining officer has first reconsidered the matter in accordance with
an Order made under paragraph (1)(b).
(4) Orders
under paragraph (1) may further provide for any question of law arising in
connection with the determination of a claim by a determining officer or a
review or appeal before a Tribunal to be referred to the Royal Court for a
ruling on the question.[16]
10 Power to refer
questions to experts
(1) Where
any question of special difficulty falls to be determined under this Law, the
determining officer may refer that question to one or more experts for
examination and report.
(2) An
expert to whom a question is referred under paragraph (1) shall not
disclose any information coming to his or her knowledge as a result of such
referral to any person except –
(a) a
person acting in execution of this Law;
(b) as
may be required for any purpose approved by the Minister; or
(c) for
the purposes or in the course of any legal proceedings.
(3) In
this Article “expert” means a person appearing to the determining
officer to have knowledge or experience which would be relevant in determining
the question of special difficulty.
11 Payments to persons in an eligible
household and to third parties
(1) Where
a household is entitled to income support, the determining officer shall decide
which of the adult members of the household are to receive payment and whether
payment should be assigned to the benefit of or paid to any third party under
paragraph (2), and payment of the amount awarded shall be made in
accordance with that decision.
(2) Subject
to the provisions of this Law, any award or part of an award may, if the
determining officer decides that it is in the best interests of the person or
household entitled to receive it, be assigned to the benefit of, or paid to,
any third party.
(3) Payment
of an amount in accordance with this Article shall constitute a discharge of
the obligation to pay that amount to any person or household as the case may
be.
12 Review of awards
(1) A
determining officer may at any time review an award, and if the determining
officer considers that the determination may no longer be correct, he or she
may make a fresh determination.
(2) A
determining officer reviewing an award under paragraph (1) may require any
information or evidence that must be provided in support of a claim in
accordance with an Order made under Article 4(3) or Article 8(6).
13 Recovery of awards wrongly made
(1) If
it is found at any time that any award has been paid that was not properly
payable, the Minister may require it to be repaid –
(a) if it was paid to a person in his or her own
right or on behalf of an eligible household, by that person; or
(b) if it was paid to a person on behalf of
another person or an eligible household, by that person, by that other person
or by a member of that household.
(2) If
it is found at any time that any award properly payable has been paid to a
person not being a person by whom it was properly receivable, the Minister may
require it to be repaid by the person to whom it was paid.
(3) In
case of the death of a person who could be required to repay a sum under this
Article, the Minister may require it to be repaid by the person charged with
the administration of the deceased person’s personal estate.
(4) Proceedings
for the recovery of any sum which a person is required under this Article to
repay to the Minister may be instituted by the Treasurer of the States, either
in term or in vacation, and notwithstanding any enactment or rule of law to the
contrary, any such proceedings may be brought at any time within 10 years
from the time when that sum was paid, or, where the proceedings are for the
recovery of a consecutive series of sums, within 10 years from the date on
which the last sum of the series was paid.
(5) Any
sum which a person is required under this Article to repay to the Minister may,
without prejudice to any other remedy, be recovered by means of deduction from
any other payment due under this Law to the person to whom the sum was paid,
unless it was paid to that person on behalf of another, in which case it may,
without prejudice to any other remedy, be recovered by means of deduction from
any payment due under this Law to that other person.
14 Charges over
property
(1) In
any case where –
(a) a
special payment has been made in the form of a loan;
(b) the
Minister seeks to recover an award under Article 13; or
(c) the
determining officer has exercised his or her discretion under Article 7(3),
the amount in question may
be secured by means of a hypothec charged on any immovable property owned by
the claimant or a member of the claimant’s household, or a security
interest in shares that confer on the claimant or a member of the
claimant’s household entitlement to occupy any immovable property, as the
case may be.
(2) The
Minister may require –
(a) the
payment of such interest, if any, on the amount in question, as the Minister
may specify; or
(b) the
repayment of the amount in question, plus any interest to be charged, by means
of such instalments as the Minister may specify.
(3) In
this Article “amount in question” means the amount of the loan,
award to be recovered or the amount of income support payable as a result of
the disregard of capital or income, as the case may be.
15 Administrative expenses
The Minister may pay to any member of a Tribunal mentioned in
Article 9(2) who exercises any functions under this Law, and any other
person whose advice or assistance may be required for the purposes of this Law
by either of those Tribunals or by a determining officer, such remuneration and
expenses as the Minister may determine.
16 Offences
A person who –
(a) with
intent to obtain an award, whether on behalf of himself or herself or any
household or person, furnishes any information that he or she knows to be false
in a material particular, or recklessly furnishes any information that is false
in a material particular, or withholds any material information;
(b) obtains
or receives an award, whether on behalf of himself, herself or any household or
person, knowing that it was not properly payable to, or not properly receivable
by, him or her; or
(c) fails
to notify a change of circumstances as required by an Order under this Law,
is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of 7 years
and to a fine.
17 Parties
to offences
(1) Where
an offence under this Law committed by a limited liability partnership or body
corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of,
or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of –
(a) a
person who is a partner of the partnership, or director, manager, secretary or
other similar officer of the body corporate; or
(b) any
person purporting to act in any such capacity,
the person is also guilty of the offence and liable in the same
manner as the partnership or body corporate to the penalty provided for that
offence.
(2) Where the affairs of a
body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1) shall apply in
relation to acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s
functions of management as if he or she were a director of the body corporate.
(3) A person who aids,
abets, counsels or procures the commission of an offence under this Law is also
guilty of an offence and liable in the same manner as a principal offender to
the penalty provided for that offence.
18 Regulations and Orders
(1) The
States may make Regulations and the Minister may make Orders specifying or
prescribing anything that is to be or may be specified or prescribed under this
Law and generally for carrying this Law into effect.
(2) Without
prejudice to any specific provision of this Law, any Regulations or Order under
this Law may contain such incidental, supplemental or transitional provisions
as appear to the States or the Minister, as the case may be, to be expedient
for the purposes of the Regulations or Order.
part 5
closing provisions
19 Transitional
provisions
Without prejudice to the
powers conferred by any other provision of this Law, Orders may make such
provision as the Minister considers necessary for facilitating the introduction
of this Law, including the modification of this Law, so as to facilitate the
transition from the scheme of benefits that applied before the commencement of
this Law to income support.
20 Abolition of
Parish Welfare
The obligations of a
parish to meet the costs of the relief and maintenance of persons chargeable to
the parish who are suffering as a result of financial hardship are abolished.
21 Minor or
consequential amendments
(1) Schedule 1
has effect for amending the enactments set out in that Schedule.
(2) The
States may by Regulations make such other amendments to any enactment (other
than this Law) as appear to the States to be expedient for the purposes of this
Law.
22 Citation and commencement
This Law may be cited as
the Income Support (Jersey) Law 2007 and shall come into force on such day
as the States may by Act appoint and different days may be appointed for
different purposes.