Amendments proposed to the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Bill - continued House of Commons

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Grants towards cost of discretionary housing payments

   

Mr Jeff Rooker
Angela Eagle
Mr Kevin Hughes
Mr Richard Burden

NC33

*To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) The Secretary of State may, out of money provided by Parliament, make to a relevant authority such payments as he thinks fit in respect of—

      (a) the cost to that authority of the making of discretionary housing payments; and

      (b) the expenses involved in the administration by that authority of any scheme for the making of discretionary housing payments.

    (2) The following provisions, namely—

      (a) subsections (1), (3), (4), (5)(b), (7)(b) and (8) of section 140B of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (calculation of amount of subsidy payable to authorities administering housing benefit or council tax benefit), and

      (b) section 140C of that Act (payment of subsidy),

    shall apply in relation to payments under this section as they apply in relation to subsidy under section 140A of that Act.

    (3) The Secretary of State may by order make provision—

      (a) imposing a limit on the total amount of expenditure in any year that may be incurred by a relevant authority in making discretionary housing payments;

      (b) imposing subsidiary limits on the expenditure that may be incurred in any year by a relevant authority in making discretionary payments in the circumstances specified in the order.

    (4) An order imposing a limit by virtue of subsection (3)(a) or (b) may fix that limit either by specifying the amount of the limit or by providing for the means by which it is to be determined.

    (5) An order under this section shall be made by statutory instrument, which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

    (6) Subsections (4) to (6) of section 189 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (supplemental and incidental powers etc.) shall apply in relation to any power to make an order under this section as they apply in relation to the powers to make an order that are conferred by that Act.

    (7) Any power to make an order under this section shall include power to make different provision for different areas or different relevant authorities.

    (8) In this section—

      "discretionary housing payment" means any payment made by virtue of regulations under section (Discretionary financial assistance with housing) of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000;

      "relevant authority" means an authority administering housing benefit or council tax benefit;

      "subsidy" has the same meaning as in sections 140A to 140G of the Social Security Administration Act 1992;

      "year" means a financial year within the meaning of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.".'


Social Security Advisory Committee

   

Mr Jeff Rooker
Angela Eagle
Mr Kevin Hughes
Mr Richard Burden

NC34

*To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) Section 170 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (functions of the Social Security Advisory Committee in relation to the relevant enactments and the relevant Northern Ireland enactments) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In the definition in subsection (5) of "relevant enactments", after paragraph (ae) there shall be inserted—

    

      "(af) section (Disclosure of state pension information), sections 49 to 52 and sections (Housing benefit: revisions and appeals), (Discretionary financial assistance with housing) and (Grants towards cost of discretionary housing payments) of the Child Support Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 and Schedule (Housing benefit: revisions and appeals) to that Act;".

    (3) In the definition in that subsection of "relevant Northern Ireland enactments", after paragraph (ae) there shall be inserted—

    

      "(af) any provisions in Northern Ireland which correspond to section (Disclosure of state pension information), any of sections 49 to 52, (Housing benefit: revisions and appeals), (Discretionary financial assistance with housing) or (Grants towards cost of discretionary housing payments) of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 or Schedule (Housing benefit: revisions and appeals) to that Act; and".'.


Disclosure of state pension information

   

Mr Jeff Rooker
Angela Eagle
Mr Kevin Hughes
Mr Richard Burden

NC35

*To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) This section applies to any state pension information which is held in relation to any individual—

      (a) by the Secretary of State; or

      (b) in connection with the provision of any services provided to the Secretary of State for purposes connected with his functions relating to social security, by the person providing those services.

    (2) Regulations may confer a power on the Secretary of State to disclose, or to authorise the disclosure of, any information to which this section applies in any case in which—

      (a) the person to whom the disclosure is made is a person falling within subsection (3) who has, in the prescribed manner, applied to the Secretary of State for the disclosure of the information; and

      (b) it appears to the Secretary of State that the prescribed conditions for the making of a disclosure of the information in question to that person have been satisfied.

    (3) A person falls within this subsection if—

      (a) he is the trustee or manager of an occupational pension scheme of which the individual to whom the information relates is a member;

      (b) he is the trustee or manager of a personal pension scheme of which that individual is a member;

      (c) he is the employer in relation to an occupational pension scheme of which that individual is a member;

      (d) he is the employer in relation to any employed earner's employment of that individual which is not contracted-out employment; or

      (e) he is proposing to provide services to that individual in circumstances in which the provision of the services, or the proposal to do so, may involve the giving of advice or forecasts to which the information to which this section applies may be relevant.

    (4) The Secretary of State shall secure that his powers under this section are exercised so that at least the following is prescribed for the purposes of subsection (2)(b), namelyÍ—

      (a) in the case of an application for information made by a person falling within paragraph (e) of subsection (3), a condition that the individual to whom the information relates has consented to the making of the application and to the disclosure; and

      (b) in any other case, either that condition or the alternative condition set out in subsection (5).

    (5) The alternative condition is—

      (a) that such steps as may be prescribed have been taken for the purpose of ascertaining whether the individual to whom the information relates objects to the making of the application for the disclosure of information relating to him; and

      (b) that the prescribed time has elapsed without any objection by that individual.

    (6) A person applying to the Secretary of State, in accordance with regulations under this section, for the disclosure of any information relating to an individual shall be entitled, for the purpose of making the application, to make such disclosures of information relating to that individual as may be authorised by the regulations.

    (7) In this section the reference, in relation to an individual, to state pension information is a reference to the following information about that individual—

      (a) his date of birth, and the age at which and date on which he attains pensionable age—

          (i) for the purposes of the Pension Schemes Act 1993, in relation to any guaranteed minimum pension to which he is entitled; and

          (ii) in accordance with the rules in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 1995;

      (b) the amount of any basic retirement pension a present or future entitlement to which has already accrued to that individual, and the amount of any additional retirement pension such an entitlement to which has already accrued to that individual;

      (c) a projection of the amount of the basic retirement pension to which that individual is likely to become entitled, or might become entitled in particular circumstances; and

      (d) a projection of the amount of the additional retirement pension to which that individual is likely to become entitled, or might become entitled in particular circumstances.

    (8) Regulations under this section shall be made by statutory instrument, which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

    (9) Subsections (4) to (6) of section 189 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (supplemental and incidental powers etc.) shall apply in relation to any power to make regulations under this section as they apply in relation to the powers to make regulations that are conferred by that Act.

    (10) For the purposes of section 121E of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (supply of information by the Inland Revenue to the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Secretary of State's functions relating to social security), the Secretary of State's functions relating to social security shall be taken to include any power conferred on him by regulations under this section.

    (11) In this section—

      "basic retirement pension" and "additional retirement pension" mean any basic or, as the case may be, additional pension under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;

      "contracted-out employment" has the same meaning as in the Pension Schemes Act 1993;

      "employed earner" has the same meaning as it has in Parts I to V of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (by virtue of section 2(1) of that Act);

      "employer"—

          (a) in relation to any occupational pension scheme, has the same meaning as in Part I of the Pensions Act 1995; and

          (b) in relation to employed earner's employment, has the same meaning as in the Pension Schemes Act 1993;

      "member", in relation to an occupational pension scheme, has the same meaning as in Part I of the Pensions Act 1995;

      "occupational pension scheme" and "personal pension scheme" have the same meanings as in the Pension Schemes Act 1993;

      "prescribed" means prescribed by or determined in accordance with regulations;

      "regulations" means regulations made by the Secretary of State;

      "trustee" and "manager", in relation to an occupational pension scheme, have the same meanings as in Part I of the Pensions Act 1995.'.

 
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