Section 51 — Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002: Choice of form of support

Choice of form of support 51 1 The Secretary of State may refuse to provide support for a person under a provision specified in subsection (2) on the grounds that an offer has been made to the person of support under another provision specified in that subsection.

2 The provisions are—

a sections 17 and 24 of this Act, b section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (accommodation for person temporarily admitted or released from detention),

and c sections 95 and 98 of that Act (support for destitute asylum-seeker).

3 In deciding under which of the provisions listed in subsection (2) to offer support to a person the Secretary of State may—

a have regard to administrative or other matters which do not concern the person’s personal circumstances;

b regard one of those matters as conclusive;

c apply different criteria to different persons for administrative reasons (which may include the importance of testing the operation of a particular provision).