Departments Directions Social Fund GuidePart 1 - Introduction
General
Deciding on discretionary payments
General
Description of the social fund1000The social fund (SF) is a scheme to help people with needs which are difficult to meet from regular income. It is made up of two distinct parts:
- a regulated scheme which provides entitlement to maternity, funeral, cold weather and winter fuel payments for people who satisfy certain qualifying conditions
- a discretionary scheme under which people may be eligible in certain circumstances for a:
Community Care Grant (CCG) - to meet, or help to meet, a need for community care
Budgeting Loan (BL) - to meet, or help to meet, an intermittent expense
Crisis Loan (CL) - to meet, or help to meet, an immediate short term need
1001Social fund decisions on CCGs, BLs and CLs are discretionary. Decisions are taken by Decision Makers (DMs). Dissatisfied applicants may ask for a review.
1002DMs do not take decisions on regulated payments or on the repayment of loans. These are made by officers authorised to make such decisions on behalf of the Department. However, the same officer may be authorised to act in any of those capacities.
1003This guide deals with the discretionary payments only. Guidance on regulated payments is in:
- the Guide to the regulated fund
- the Decision Maker's Guide (DMG)
- the Cold Weather Payments handbook
- Winter Fuel Payments Bulletins
1004-1019
Changes to the decision making process contained in the Social Security Order 1998Appropriate Officers
1020The Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 introduces new arrangements for decision making in the discretionary social fund which effectively mean that social fund decisions are made by the Department. Article 36 of that Order provides for such decisions to be made by "appropriate officers" who act under the Department's authority and who exercise functions on its behalf in relation to the social fund. That article also allows the Department to nominate an appropriate officer to issue area decision making guidance on the Department's behalf. Article 38 of that Order similarly provides for reviews of social fund decisions to be conducted by an "appropriate officer". The terms "Social Fund Officer" and "Social Fund Review Officer" are therefore no longer appropriate.
1021The new terminology for staff making discretionary social fund decisions, to be found throughout the Guide, is as follows:-
- "decision maker" means an appropriate officer acting under the Department's authority pursuant to article 36(1) of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.
- "area decision maker" means a decision maker who has been nominated to issue guidance in respect of an area in accordance with article 36(2) of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998; and
- "reviewing officer" means a decision maker who is authorised to review social fund determinations pursuant to article 38 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.
1022Only decision makers are authorised to make decisions about discretionary payments from the social fund on behalf of the Department. Social Fund Inspectors (SFIs) are appointed by the Social Fund Commissioner and their role, title and independence from the Department is unchanged.
1023Decision makers must act in accordance with the law and the Department's directions.
1024Decision makers are required to determine any question in accordance with the directions and guidance issued under sections 134(1)(b) and (5) and 136(1A), (2),(3) and (4) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 , as amended by the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, and articles 36(2) of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 and section 147(5) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 as amended by paragraph 80(2) of Schedule 6 to the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.
1025Decision makers must also take account of local guidance issued by the Area Decision Maker (ADM) under article 36(2) of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 and direction 41.
1026Decision makers must take particular care to ensure that their decisions are not in any way affected by bias or prejudice on such grounds as colour, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation, sex or religion.
1027-1049
Deciding on discretionary payments
1050The directions issued by the Department are shown in full in part 8 of this guide. Directions specific to each type of SF award appear in the relevant Parts.
1051The guidance cannot be expected to cover every contingency that will arise and the absence of guidance on a particular situation does not mean that help must be refused.
1052-1069
Applications to the discretionary fund1070The Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 has amended sections 134 and 136 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, firstly by specifically defining each type of payment which may be awarded from out of the discretionary social fund and secondly, by prescribing that applications for BLs are to be subject to a separate decision-making process. It follows that each type of payment from the discretionary fund must be applied for in its own right.
1071There are separate application forms for each element of the discretionary social fund i.e. CCG, BL and CL. Applicants are normally expected to apply, on the appropriate form, for the specific discretionary payment which they consider best relates to their circumstances.
1072BL applications can lead to BL decisions only. It will not be possible to consider a BL application and award any other type of payment. If, however, a BL application also contains information which indicates that another type of payment may be appropriate, such information, if it is sufficient for a decision to be made, may be treated as though it were an application for that alternative type of payment. Otherwise, a separate application would be required.
1073Although there will be separate CCG and CL application forms, since both are subject to the same discretionary basis of decision making it remains possible for a DM to receive a CL application and decide to award a CCG or vice versa. This involves treating the CL application as though it was an application for a CCG. DMs are not required to consider a CCG in every case of a CL application or vice versa. Such consideration may be appropriate where the information declared by the applicant in support of a CL application alerts the DM to the possibility of a CCG being appropriate.
1074-1089
Disclosure of information1090Staff are reminded that Social Security records contain personal information about individuals and are held in strict confidence. Staff with access to such information are prohibited from disclosing personal information unless:
- the person concerned has consented
- a court order has been obtained, or
- legislation allows for the disclosure
1091These instructions and instances where other disclosures can be made are contained in the Protection of Personal Information (PPI) Code. Consult the PPI Code when a request for disclosure of information is received. Advice on individual cases can be obtained from Network Support Branch (SF).
1092 From 05/12/2005 the Civil Partnership Act will allow same-sex couples to make a formal, legal commitment to each other by entering into a Civil Partnership (CP) through a statutory civil registration procedure. This means that same-sex couples can notify their intention to form a CP from this date and be treated in the same way as married couples.
1093 It is Government policy, however, to maintain a distinction between CP and marriage - the term "spouse" should not be used in respect of civil partners ("spouse" relates to a person's partner in marriage) and the term "marriage" should not be used to cover civil partnerships.
1094 In order to comply with this, a provision has been introduced which defined how "partner" should be interpreted in directions and guidance. This provision can be found at the beginning of the Department's directions in part 8
1095-1999
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