Departments Directions Social Fund GuidePart 2 - Community Care Grants
Direction 27 - Treatment of capitalThe Department directs that
(1) Where -
(a) the applicant or his partner is aged 60 or over and the total capital resources of the applicant and his partner exceed £1000, or
(b) the applicant is, or if he has a partner both are aged under 60 and the total capital resources of the applicant and his partner exceed £500, any community care grant which would but for this direction be awarded shall be awarded only if and to the extent that the amount of the award is more than the excess
(2) Subject to paragraph (3) in this direction, "total capital resources" shall be calculated in accordance with -
(a) where the applicant or his partner is in receipt of income support, Chapter VI (capital) of Part V of, and Schedule 10 to, the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987, except that any payments made from the Family Fund to the applicant or to his partner or children shall be disregarded;
(b) where the applicant or his partner is in receipt of income-based jobseeker's allowance, Chapter VI (capital) of Part VIII of, and Schedule 7 to, the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996, except that any payments made from the Family Fund to the applicant or to his partner or children shall be disregarded.
(c) where the applicant or his partner is in receipt of state pension credit, Part III (income and capital) and Schedule V to the State Pension Credit Regulations 2002.
(d) where the applicant or his partner is in receipt of income-related employment and support allowance, Part 10, Chapters 1 and 7 and Schedule 9 to, the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), the following shall be disregarded in calculating the total capital resources:
(a) any payments made from the Family Fund to the applicant, his partner or children;and
(b) any integration loan granted to the applicant or his partner under The Integration Loans for Refugees and Others Regulations 2007 (S.I.2007/1598) as they have effect at 11 June 2007.
Treatment of capital
3450 Any capital held by the applicant and partner of or below £500, or £1000 if the applicant or partner is aged 60 or over, will not affect the amount awarded as a CCG.
3451 If the applicant or partner have capital of more than £500, or £1000 if the applicant or partner is aged 60 or over, a CCG is reduced by the amount of any capital over £500, or £1000 if the applicant or partner is aged 60 or over.
3452 Any capital held by the applicant's children should be disregarded.
3453 Check the amount of capital stated on the SF application against information available in the Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseekers Allowance or State Pension Credit documents. Further enquiries will be needed only if:
- there is a significant change in the amount of capital stated
- the decision on the application might be affected
3454 For the purposes of the Social Fund, the definition of what constitutes capital is the same as that for IS, ESA(IR), JSA(IB) or SPC, except that any payments from the Family Fund and integration loans under The Integration Loans for Refugees and Others Regulations 2007 should also be disregarded. Any payment of Back to Work Bonus should be treated as capital.
3455 The main types of capital are:
- current accounts
- savings accounts
- national savings certificates
- fixed term investments
- life insurance or endowment policies
- friendly societies personal deposit accounts
- trust funds
- property other than the applicant's home
3456 This list is not exhaustive. Refer to the Decision Makers Guide (DMG) for:
- a complete list of types of capital
- the procedures for assessing the capital available to the applicant
3457 The IS, ESA(IR), JSA(IB) or SPC rules for disregarding capital apply to CCGs, except that any payments from the Family Fund and integration loans under The Integration Loans for Refugees and Others Regulations 2007 should also be disregarded. Disregard arrears of and concessionary payments made to compensate for arrears due to the non-payment of, the following benefits, payments and allowances:
- mobility allowance
- mobility supplement
- the mobility component of DLA, AA
- the care component of DLA, AA
- IS
- Working Families Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the appropriate maximum family element, and/or Working Tax Credit where a disabled worker is included in the assessment
- Disabled Person’s Tax Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Council Tax Benefit, income-based JSA (and, where a claimant is receiving JSA, contribution-based JSA)
- State Pension Credit
- any allowance paid under the Earnings Top-up Scheme 1996
- any discretionary housing payment paid pursuant to regulation 2(1) of the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001, and, where a claimant is receiving income support,
- supplementary benefit
- family income supplement under the Family Income Supplements Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 and
- housing benefit under The Housing Benefits (Northern Ireland) Order 1983, but only for 52 weeks from the date of receipt of the arrears, subject to para 3458 below.
3458 From 14 October 2002 the disregard that applies to arrears and concessionary payments referred to in para 3457 above will be extended from 52 weeks to the remainder of the benefit award of IS, ESA(IR) or JSA(IB) if that is a longer period, in cases where there has been an official error and the total of arrears plus any concessionary payment is £5000 or more. This will apply to all payments received in full on or after 14 October 2001. The extended disregard can be continued across benefit awards where a claimant transfers from claiming either IS, ESA(IR) or JSA(IB) to the other benefit, or there is a change of claimant from one partner to another, but only where the new benefit award follows on immediately after the previous one.
3459-3499
Direction 28 - Minimum AwardThe Department directs that
(a) Subject to paragraph (b) below, the minimum amount that may be awarded as a community care grant under direction 4(a) is £30, but no award shall be made under direction 4(a) where the value of an item of expense which would otherwise qualify for an award, or in the case of more than one such item their aggregate value, amounts to less than £30.
(b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply in respect of awards made for either daily living expenses or travelling expenses.
3500-3599
|
