Section 139 — Social Security Administration Act 1992: Arrangements for community charge benefits

Arrangements for community charge benefits 139 1 Council tax benefit provided for by virtue of a scheme under section 123 of the Contributions and Benefits Act (in this Act referred to as a council tax benefit scheme ) is to be administered by the appropriate authority.

2 For the purposes of this section the appropriate authority is the billing authority or local authority in Scotland which levied the council tax as regards which a person is entitled to the benefit.

4 Nothing in this section shall be read as excluding the general provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 or the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 from applying in relation to the council tax benefit functions of a local authority.

6 A billing authority or local authority in Scotland may modify any part of the council tax benefit scheme administered by the authority—

a so as to provide for disregarding, in determining a person’s income, the whole or part of any prescribed war disablement pension or prescribed war widow’s pension payable to that person or to his partner or to a person to whom he is polygamously married;

b to such extent in other respects as may be prescribed, and any such modifications may be adopted by resolution of an authority.

7 Modifications other than such modifications as are mentioned in subsection (6)(a) above shall be so framed as to secure that, in the estimate of the authority adopting them, the total of the amount of benefit which will be paid by them in any year will not exceed the permitted total or any subsidiary limit specified by order of the Secretary of State .

8 An authority which has adopted modifications may by resolution revoke or vary them.

9 If the council tax benefit scheme includes power for an authority to exercise a discretion in allowing council tax benefit , the authority shall not exercise that discretion so that the total of the amount of benefit paid by them in any year exceeds the permitted total or any subsidiary limit specified by order of the Secretary of State.

10 The Secretary of State– a shall by order specify the permitted total of council tax benefit payable by any authority in any year;

and b may by order specify one or more subsidiary limits on the amount of council tax benefit payable by any authority in any year in respect of any matter or matters specified in the order. The power to specify the permitted total or a subsidiary limit may be exercised by fixing an amount or by providing rules for its calculation.

11 In this section— “modifications” includes additions, omissions and amendments, and related expressions shall be construed accordingly; “partner”, in relation to a person, means the other member of the couple concerned; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “war widow's pension” includes any corresponding pension payable to a widower or surviving civil partner .