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Whereas a draft of this Instrument was laid before Parliament in accordance with section 80(1) of the Social Security Act 1998[1] and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament;

     Now, therefore, the Secretary of State for Social Security, in exercise of powers set out in Schedule 1 to this Instrument and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor in so far as the Regulations are made under section 6(3) of the Social Security Act 1998, by this Instrument, which contains only regulations made by virtue of, or consequential upon, those provisions of the Social Security Act 1998 and which is made before the end of the period of six months beginning with the coming into force of those provisions[2], after consultation with the Council on Tribunals in accordance with section 8 of the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992[3], hereby makes the following Regulations:

(a) in so far as they relate to child support and for the purposes of this regulation and regulation 2 on 1st June 1999;

(b) in so far as they relate to - 


(i) industrial injuries benefit, guardian's allowance and child benefit; and

(ii) a decision made under the Pension Schemes Act 1993[4] by virtue of section 170(2) of that Act;



on 5th July 1999;

(c) in so far as they relate to retirement pension, widow's benefit, incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance and maternity allowance, on 6th September 1999;

(d) in so far as they relate to family credit and disability working allowance, on 5th October 1999;

(e) in so far as they relate to attendance allowance, disability living allowance, invalid care allowance, jobseeker's allowance, credits of contributions or earnings, home responsibilities protection and vaccine damage payments, on 18th October 1999; and

(f) for all remaining purposes, on 29th November 1999.

    (3) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires - 

"the Act" means the Social Security Act 1998;

"the 1997 Act" means the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997[5];

"the Claims and Payments Regulations" means the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987[6];

"appeal" means an appeal to an appeal tribunal;

"claimant" means - 

(a) any person who is a claimant for the purposes of section 191 of the Administration Act or section 35(1) of the Jobseekers Act or any other person from whom benefit is alleged to be recoverable; and

(b) any person subject to a decision of the Secretary of State under the Pension Schemes Act 1993[7];

"clerk to the appeal tribunal" means a clerk assigned to the appeal tribunal in accordance with regulation 37;

"the date of notification" means - 

(a) the date that notification of a decision of the Secretary of State is treated as having been given or sent in accordance with regulation 2(b); or

(b) in the case of a social fund payment arising in accordance with regulations made under section 138(2) of the Contributions and Benefits Act - 


(i) the date seven days after the date on which the Secretary of State makes his decision to make a payment to a person to meet expenses for heating;

(ii) where a person collects the instrument of payment at a post office, the date the instrument is collected;

(iii) where an instrument of payment is sent to a post office for collection but is not collected and a replacement instrument is issued, the date on which the replacement instrument is issued; or

(iv) where a person questions his failure to be awarded a payment for expenses for heating, the date on which the notification of the Secretary of State's decision given in response to that question is issued;

"financially qualified panel member" means a panel member who satisfies the requirements of paragraph 4 of Schedule 3;

"the Income Support Regulations" means the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987[8];

"the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations" means the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations 1996[9];

"legally qualified panel member" means a panel member who satisfies the requirements of paragraph 1 of Schedule 3;

"medically qualified panel member" means a panel member who satisfies the requirements of paragraph 2 of Schedule 3;

"misconceived appeal" means an appeal which is - 

(a) frivolous or vexatious; or

(b) obviously unsustainable and has no prospect of success,

other than an out of jurisdiction appeal;

"official error" means an error made by an officer of the Department of Social Security or the Department for Education and Employment acting as such which no person outside either Department caused or to which no person outside either Department materially contributed;

"out of jurisdiction appeal" means an appeal brought against a decision which is specified in Schedule 2 to the Act or a decision prescribed in regulation 27 (decisions against which no appeal lies);

"panel" means the panel constituted under section 6;

"panel member" means a person appointed to the panel;

"panel member with a disability qualification" means a panel member who satisfies the requirements of paragraph 5 of Schedule 3;

"party to the proceedings" means the Secretary of State and any other person - 

(a) who is one of the principal parties for the purposes of sections 13 and 14;

(b) who has a right of appeal to an appeal tribunal under section 11(2) of the 1997 Act[10], section 20 of the Child Support Act as extended by paragraph 3 of Schedule 4C to that Act[11] or section 12(2);

"President" means the President of appeal tribunals appointed under section 5;

"referral" means a referral of an application for a departure direction to an appeal tribunal under section 28D(1)(b) of the Child Support Act[12].

    (4) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference - 

(a) to a numbered section is to the section of the Act bearing that number;

(b) to a numbered Part is to the Part of these Regulations bearing that number;

(c) to a numbered regulation or Schedule is to the regulation in, or Schedule to, these Regulations bearing that number;

(d) in a regulation or Schedule to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph in that regulation or Schedule bearing that number;

(e) in a paragraph to a lettered or numbered sub-paragraph is to the sub-paragraph in that paragraph bearing that letter or number.

Service of notices or documents
     2. Where, by any provision of the Act or of these Regulations - 

(a) any notice or other document is required to be given or sent to the clerk to the appeal tribunal or to an officer authorised by the Secretary of State, that notice or document shall be treated as having been so given or sent on the day that it is received by the clerk to the appeal tribunal or by an officer authorised by the Secretary of State, as the case may be, and

(b) any notice (including notification of a decision of the Secretary of State) or other document is required to be given or sent to any person other than the clerk to the appeal tribunal or to an officer authorised by the Secretary of State, as the case may be, that notice or document shall, if sent by post to that person's last known address, be treated as having been given or sent on the day that it was posted.

(a) within one month of the date of notification of the decision, or if later

(b) within the time prescribed for claiming such a payment under regulation 19 of, and Schedule 4 to, the Claims and Payments Regulations[13], or

(c) within such longer period of time as may be allowed under regulation 4.

    (4) In the case of a decision made under the Pension Schemes Act 1993[14] by virtue of section 170(2) of that Act, the decision may be revised at any time by the Secretary of State where it contains an error.

    (5) A decision of the Secretary of State under section 8 or 10 - 

(a) which arose from an official error; or

(b) where the decision was made in ignorance of, or was based upon a mistake as to, some material fact and as a result of that ignorance of or mistake as to that fact, the decision was more advantageous to the claimant than it would otherwise have been but for that ignorance or mistake,

may be revised at any time by the Secretary of State.

    (6) A decision of the Secretary of State under section 8 or 10 that a jobseeker's allowance is not payable to a claimant for any period in accordance with section 19 of the Jobseekers Act may be revised at any time by the Secretary of State.

    (7) A decision under section 8 or 10 may be revised where - 

(a) the Secretary of State awards entitlement to a relevant benefit; and

(b) on the date that entitlement arises, the claimant or a member of his family is entitled to another relevant benefit or to an increase in the rate of another benefit.

    (8) A decision of the Secretary of State which is specified in Schedule 2 to the Act or is prescribed in regulation 27 (decisions against which no appeal lies) may be revised at any time.

    (9) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in respect of a relevant change of circumstances which occurred since the decision was made or where the Secretary of State has evidence or information which indicates that a relevant change of circumstances will occur.

    (10) The Secretary of State may treat an application for a supersession as an application for a revision.

    (11) In this regulation and regulation 7, "appropriate office" means

(a) the office of the Department of Social Security or the Department for Education and Employment the address of which is indicated on the notification of the original decision; or

(b) in the case of a person who has claimed jobseeker's allowance, the office specified by the Secretary of State in accordance with regulation 23 of the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations.

Late application for a revision
     4.  - (1) The time limit for making an application for a revision specified in regulation 3(1) or (3) may be extended where the conditions specified in the following provisions of this regulation are satisfied.

    (2) An application for an extension of time shall be made by the claimant or a person acting on his behalf.

    (3) An application shall - 

(a) contain particulars of the grounds on which the extension of time is sought and shall contain sufficient details of the decision which it is sought to have revised to enable that decision to be identified; and

(b) be made within 13 months of the date of notification of the decision which it is sought to have revised.

    (4) An application for an extension of time shall not be granted unless the applicant satisfies the Secretary of State that - 

(a) it is reasonable to grant the application;

(b) the application for revision has merit; and

(c) special circumstances are relevant to the application and as a result of those special circumstances it was not practicable for the application to be made within the time limit specified in regulation 3.

    (5) In determining whether it is reasonable to grant an application, the Secretary of State shall have regard to the principle that the greater the amount of time that has elapsed between the expiration of the time specified in regulation 3(1) and (3) for applying for a revision and the making of the application for an extension of time, the more compelling should be the special circumstances on which the application is based.

    (6) In determining whether it is reasonable to grant the application for an extension of time, no account shall be taken of the following - 

(a) that the applicant or any person acting for him was unaware of or misunderstood the law applicable to his case (including ignorance or misunderstanding of the time limits imposed by these Regulations); or

(b) that a Commissioner or a court has taken a different view of the law from that previously understood and applied.

    (7) An application under this regulation for an extension of time which has been refused may not be renewed.

Date from which a decision revised under section 9 takes effect
     5. Where, on a revision under section 9, the Secretary of State decides that the date from which the decision under section 8 or 10 ("the original decision") took effect was erroneous, the decision under section 9 shall take effect on the date from which the original decision would have taken effect had the error not been made.

(a) the repayment of a loan to which regulation 66A of the Income Support Regula tions[15] or regulation 136 of the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations applies;

(b) the absence from a nursing home or residential care home for a period of less than one week of a resident who is - 


(i) in receipt of income support or a jobseeker's allowance; and

(ii) not a claimant to whom Part II of Schedule 4 to the Income Support Regulations applies.

    (7) In paragraph (6)(b), "nursing home" and "residential care home" have the same meanings as they have in regulation 19 of the Income Support Regulations.

[2] See section 173(5)(b) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (c.5).back

[3] 1992 c.53.back

[4] 1993 c.48; section 170 was substituted by paragraph 131 of Schedule 7 to the Social Security Act 1998.back

[5] 1997 c.27.back

[6] S.I. 1987/1968.back

[7] 1993 c.48.back

[8] S.I. 1987/1967.back

[9] S.I. 1996/207.back

[10] Section 11(2) is amended by paragraph 150(2) of Schedule 7 to the Social Security Act 1998.back

[11] Schedule 4C of the Child Support Act 1991 is inserted by paragraph 54 of Schedule 7 to the Social Security Act 1998.back

[12] Section 28D was inserted by section 4 of the Child Support Act 1995 (c.34).back

[13] See in particular paragraphs 8 and 9 of Schedule 4 to the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 (S.I. 1987/1968).back

[14] 1993 c.48; section 170 was substituted by paragraph 131 of Schedule 7 to the Social Security Act 1998.back

[15] Regulation 66A was inserted by S.I. 1990/1549; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1991/236, S.I. 1991/1559 and S.I. 1996/462.back