An accident happening after 19th December 1961 shall be treated for the purposes of industrial injuries benefit, where it would not apart from this section be so treated, as arising out of an employed earner’s employment if—
(a) the accident arises in the course of the employment; and
(b) the accident either is caused—
(i) by another person’s misconduct, skylarking or negligence, or
(ii) by steps taken in consequence of any such misconduct, skylarking or negligence, or
(iii) by the behaviour or presence of an animal (including a bird, fish or insect),
or is caused by or consists in the employed earner being struck by any object or by lightning; and
(c) the employed earner did not directly or indirectly induce or contribute to the happening of the accident by his conduct outside the employment or by any act not incidental to the employment.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, an employed earner shall be entitled to disablement pension if he suffers as the result of the relevant accident from loss of physical or mental faculty such that the assessed extent of the resulting disablement amounts to not less than 14 per cent. or, on a claim made before 1st October 1986, 20 per cent.
(2) In the determination of the extent of an employed earner’s disablement for the purposes of this section there may be added to the percentage of the disablement resulting from the relevant accident the assessed percentage of any present disablement of his—
(a) which resulted from any other accident ... arising out of and in the course of his employment, being employed earner’s employment, and
(b) in respect of which a disablement gratuity was not paid to him after a final assessment of his disablement,
(as well as any percentage which may be so added in accordance with regulations under subsection (2) of section 109 below made by virtue of subsection (4)(b) of that section).
(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, where the assessment of disablement is a percentage between 20 and 100 which is not a multiple of 10, it shall be treated—
(a) if it is a multiple of 5, as being the next higher percentage which is a multiple of 10, and
(b) if it is not a multiple of 5, as being the nearest percentage which is a multiple of 10,
and where the assessment of disablement on a claim made on or after 1st October 1986 is less than 20 per cent., but not less than 14 per cent., it shall be treated as 20 per cent.
(4) Where subsection (2) above applies, subsection (3) above shall have effect in relation to the aggregate percentage and not in relation to any percentage forming part of the aggregate.
(5) In this Part of this Act “assessed”, in relation to the extent of any disablement, means assessed in accordance with Schedule 6 to this Act; and for the purposes of that Schedule there shall be taken to be no relevant loss of faculty when the extent of the resulting disablement, if so assessed, would not amount to 1 per cent.
(6) A person shall not be entitled to a disablement pension until after the expiry of the period of 90 days (disregarding Sundays) beginning with the day of the relevant accident.
(7) Subject to subsection (8) below, where disablement pension is payable for a period, it shall be paid at the appropriate weekly rate specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 1.
(8) Where the period referred to in subsection (7) above is limited by reference to a definite date, the pension shall cease on the death of the beneficiary before that date.
(1) Where a disablement pension is payable in respect of an assessment of 100 per cent., then, if as the result of the relevant loss of faculty the beneficiary requires constant attendance, the weekly rate of the pension shall be increased by an amount, not exceeding the appropriate amount specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 2 determined in accordance with regulations by reference to the extent and nature of the attendance required by the beneficiary.
(2) An increase of pension under this section shall be payable for such period as may be determined at the time it is granted, but may be renewed from time to time.
(3) The Secretary of State may by regulations direct that any provision of sections 64 to 67 above shall have effect, with or without modifications, in relation to increases of pension under this section.
(4) In subsection (3) above, “modifications” includes additions and omissions.
105 Increase for exceptionally severe disablement.
(1) Where a disablement pension is payable to a person—
(a) who is or, but for having received medical or other treatment as an in-patient in a hospital or similar institution, would be entitled to an increase of the weekly rate of the pension under section 104 above, and the weekly rate of the increase exceeds the amount specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 2(a); and
(b) his need for constant attendance of an extent and nature qualifying him for such an increase at a weekly rate in excess of that amount is likely to be permanent,
the weekly rate of the pension shall, in addition to any increase under section 104 above, be further increased by the amount specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 3.
(2) An increase under this section shall be payable for such period as may be determined at the time it is granted, but may be renewed from time to time.
106 Benefits and increases subject to qualifications as to time.
Schedule 7 to this Act shall have effect in relation—
(a) to unemployability supplement;
(b) to disablement gratuity;
(c) to increases of disablement pension during hospital treatment;
(d) to reduced earnings allowance;
(e) to retirement allowance; and
(f) to industrial death benefit,
for all of which the qualifications include special qualifications as to time.
(1) Where a person suffers two or more successive accidents arising out of and in the course of his employed earner’s employment—
(a) he shall not for the same period be entitled (apart from any increase of benefit mentioned in subsection (2) below) to receive industrial injuries benefit by way of two or more disablement pensions at an aggregate weekly rate exceeding the appropriate amount specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 4; and
(b) regulations may provide for adjusting—
(i) disablement benefit, or the conditions for the receipt of that benefit, in any case where he has received or may be entitled to a disablement gratuity;
(ii) any increase of benefit mentioned in subsection (2) below, or the conditions for its receipt.
(2) The increases of benefit referred to in subsection (1) above are those under the following provisions of this Act—
section 104,
section 105,
paragraph 2, 4 or 6 of Schedule 7.
108 Benefit in respect of prescribed industrial diseases, etc.
(1) Industrial injuries benefits shall, in respect of a person who has been in employed earner’s employment, be payable in accordance with this section and sections 109 and 110 below in respect of—
(a) any prescribed disease, or
(b) any prescribed personal injury (other than an injury caused by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment),
which is a disease or injury due to the nature of that employment ....
(2) A disease or injury may be prescribed in relation to any employed earners if the Secretary of State is satisfied that—
(a) it ought to be treated, having regard to its causes and incidence and any other relevant considerations, as a risk of their occupations and not as a risk common to all persons; and
(b) it is such that, in the absence of special circumstances, the attribution of particular cases to the nature of the employment can be established or presumed with reasonable certainty.
(3) Regulations prescribing any disease or injury for those purposes may provide that a person who developed the disease or injury on or at any time after a date specified in the regulations (being a date before the regulations came into force ...) shall be treated, subject to any prescribed modifications of this section or section 109 or 110 below, as if the regulations had been in force when he developed the disease or injury.
(4) Provision may be made by regulations for determining—
(a) the time at which a person is to be treated as having developed any prescribed disease or injury; and
(b) the circumstances in which such a disease or injury is, where the person in question has previously suffered from it, to be treated as having recrudesced or as having been contracted or received afresh.
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the power conferred by subsection (4)(a) above includes power to provide that the time at which a person shall be treated as having developed a prescribed disease or injury shall be the date on which he first makes a claim which results in the payment of benefit by virtue of this section or section 110 below in respect of that disease or injury.
(6) Nothing in this section or in section 109 or 110 below affects the right of any person to benefit in respect of a disease which is a personal injury by accident within the meaning of this Part of this Act, except that a person shall not be entitled to benefit in respect of a disease as being an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of any employment if at the time of the accident the disease is in relation to him a prescribed disease by virtue of the occupation in which he is engaged in that employment.
109 General provisions relating to benefit under section 108.
(1) Subject to the power to make different provision by regulations, and to the following provisions of this section and section 110 below—
(a) the benefit payable under section 108 above in respect of a prescribed disease or injury, and
(b) the conditions for receipt of benefit,
shall be the same as in the case of personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment.
(2) In relation to prescribed diseases and injuries, regulations may provide—
(a) for modifying any provisions contained in this Act, the Administration Act or Chapter II of Part I of the Social Security Act 1998 which relate to disablement benefit or reduced earnings allowance or their administration; and
(b) for adapting references in this Act, that Act and that Chapter to accidents,
and for the purposes of this subsection the provisions of that Act and that Chapter which relate to the administration of disablement benefit or reduced earnings allowance shall be taken to include section 1 of that Act and any provision which relates to the administration of both the benefit in question and other benefits.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2) above, regulations under that subsection may in particular include provision—
(a) for presuming any prescribed disease or injury—
(i) to be due, unless the contrary is proved, to the nature of a person’s employment where he was employed in any prescribed occupation at the time when, or within a prescribed period or for a prescribed length of time (whether continuous or not) before, he developed the disease or injury,
(ii) not to be due to the nature of a person’s employment unless he was employed in some prescribed occupation at the time when, or within a prescribed period or for a prescribed length of time (whether continuous or not) before, he developed the disease or injury;
(b) for such matters as appear to the Secretary of State to be incidental to or consequential on provisions included in the regulations by virtue of subsection (2) and paragraph (a) above.
(4) Regulations under subsection (2) above may also provide—
(a) that, in the determination of the extent of an employed earner’s disablement resulting from a prescribed disease or injury, the appropriate percentage may be added to the percentage of that disablement; and
(b) that, in the determination of the extent of an employed earner’s disablement for the purposes of section 103 above, the appropriate percentage may be added to the percentage of disablement resulting from the relevant accident.
(5) In subsection (4)(a) above “the appropriate percentage” means the assessed percentage of any present disablement of the earner which resulted—
(a) from any accident ... arising out of and in the course of his employment, being employed earner’s employment, or
(b) from any other prescribed disease or injury due to the nature of that employment ... ,
and in respect of which a disablement gratuity was not paid to him after a final assessment of his disablement.
(6) In subsection (4)(b) above “the appropriate percentage” means the assessed percentage of any present disablement of the earner—
(a) which resulted from any prescribed disease or injury due to the nature of his employment ... , and
(b) in respect of which a disablement gratuity was not paid to him after a final assessment of his disablement.
(7) Where regulations under subsection (2) above—
(a) make provision such as is mentioned in subsection (4) above, and
(b) also make provision corresponding to that in section 103(3) above,
they may also make provision to the effect that those corresponding provisions shall have effect in relation to the aggregate percentage and not in relation to any percentage forming part of the aggregate.
(1) As respects pneumoconiosis, regulations may further provide that, where a person is found to be suffering from pneumoconiosis accompanied by tuberculosis, the effects of the tuberculosis shall be treated for the purposes of this section and sections 108 and 109 above as if they were effects of the pneumoconiosis.
(2) Subsection (1) above shall have effect as if after “tuberculosis" (in both places) there were inserted “ emphysema or chronic bronchitis ”, but only in relation to a person the extent of whose disablement resulting from pneumoconiosis, or from pneumoconiosis accompanied by tuberculosis, would (if his physical condition were otherwise normal) be assessed at not less than 50 per cent.
(3) A person found to be suffering from pneumoconiosis shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as suffering from a loss of faculty such that the assessed extent of the resulting disablement amounts to not less than 1 per cent.
(4) In respect of byssinosis, a person shall not (unless regulations otherwise provide) be entitled to disablement benefit unless he is found to be suffering, as the result of byssinosis, from loss of faculty which is likely to be permanent.
(1) The Treasury may by regulations made with the concurrence of the Secretary of State provide—
(a) that any employment protection entitlement shall be deemed for the purposes of Parts I to V of this Act to be earnings payable by and to such persons as are prescribed and to be so payable in respect of such periods as are prescribed; and
(b) that those periods shall, so far as they are not periods of employment, be deemed for those purposes to be periods of employment.
(2) In subsection (1) above “employment protection entitlement” means—
(a) any sum, or a prescribed part of any sum, mentioned in subsection (3) below; and
(b) prescribed amounts which the regulations provide are to be treated as related to any of those sums.
(2A) Regulations under subsection (2) above shall be made by the Treasury with the concurrence of the Secretary of State.
(3) The sums referred to in subsection (2) above are the following—
(a) a sum payable in respect of arrears of pay in pursuance of an order for reinstatement or re-engagement under the Employment Rights Act 1996;
(b) a sum payable by way of pay in pursuance of an order under that Act or the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 for the continuation of a contract of employment;
(c) a sum payable by way of remuneration in pursuance of a protective award under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
113 General provisions as to disqualification and suspension.
(1) Except where regulations otherwise provide, a person shall be disqualified for receiving any benefit under Parts II to V of this Act, and an increase of such benefit shall not be payable in respect of any person as the beneficiary’s wife, husband or civil partner, for any period during which the person—
(a) is absent from Great Britain; or
(b) is undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody.
(2) Regulations may provide for suspending payment of such benefit to a person during any period in which he is undergoing medical or other treatment as an in-patient in a hospital or similar institution.
(3) Regulations may provide for a person who would be entitled to any such benefit but for the operation of any provision of this Act, the Administration Act or Chapter II of Part I of the Social Security Act 1998 to be treated as if entitled to it for the purposes of any rights or obligations (whether his own or another’s) which depend on his entitlement, other than the right to payment of the benefit.
(1) Regulations may provide for determining the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be taken, for the purposes of Parts II to V of this Act—
(a) to be wholly or mainly, or to a substantial extent, maintaining, or to be contributing at any weekly rate to the maintenance of, another person; or
(b) to be, or have been, contributing at any weekly rate to the cost of providing for a child or qualifying young person.
(2) Regulations under this section may provide, for the purposes of the provisions relating to an increase of benefit under Parts II to V of this Act in respect of a wife, civil partner or other adult dependant, that where—
(a) a person is partly maintained by each of two or more beneficiaries, each of whom would be entitled to such an increase in respect of that person if he were wholly or mainly maintaining that person, and
(b) the contributions made by those two or more beneficiaries towards the maintenance of that person amount in the aggregate to sums which would, if they had been contributed by one of those beneficiaries, have been sufficient to satisfy the requirements of regulations under this section,
that person shall be taken to be wholly or mainly maintained by such of those beneficiaries as may be prescribed.
(3) Regulations may provide for any sum or sums paid by a person by way of contribution towards either or both of the following, that is to say—
(a) the maintenance of his or her spouse or civil partner, and
(b) the cost of providing for one or more children or qualifying young persons,
to be treated for the purposes of any of the provisions of this Act specified in subsection (4) below as such contributions, of such respective amounts equal in the aggregate to the said sum or sums, in respect of such persons, as may be determined in accordance with the regulations so as to secure as large a payment as possible by way of benefit in respect of the dependants.
(4) The provisions in question are sections 56, ... ..., 86 and paragraphs 5 and 6 of Schedule 7 to this Act.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, Parts I to V and this Part of this Act apply to persons employed by or under the Crown in like manner as if they were employed by a private person.
(2) Subsection (1) above does not apply to persons serving as members of Her Majesty’s forces in their capacity as such.
(3) Employment as a member of Her Majesty’s forces and any other prescribed employment under the Crown are not, and are not to be treated as, employed earner’s employment for any of the purposes of Part V of this Act.
(4) The references to Parts I to V of this Act in this section and sections 116, 117, 119, 120 and 121 below do not include references to section 111 above.
(1) Subject to section 115(2) and (3) above and to this section, a person who is serving as a member of Her Majesty’s forces shall, while he is so serving, be treated as an employed earner, in respect of his membership of those forces, for the purposes—
(a) of Parts I to V and this Part of this Act; and
(b) of any provision of the Administration Act in its application to him as an employed earner.
(2) The Treasury may with the concurrence of the Secretary of State make regulations modifying Parts I to V and this Part of this Act and Part II of the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) Act 1999, and any provisions of Chapter II of Part I of the Social Security Act 1998 which correspond to provisions of Part III of the 1975 Act, in such manner as the Treasury think proper, in their application to persons who are or have been members of Her Majesty’s forces; and regulations under this section may in particular provide, in the case of persons who are employed earners in respect of their membership of those forces, for reducing the rate of the contributions payable in respect of their employment and for determining—
(a) the amounts payable on account of those contributions by the Secretary of State and the time and manner of payment, and
(b) the deduction (if any) to be made on account of those contributions from the pay of those persons.
(3) For the purposes of Parts I to V and this Part of this Act, Her Majesty’s forces shall be taken to consist of such establishments and organisations as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Treasury with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, being establishments and organisations in which persons serve under the control of the Defence Council.
(1) The Treasury may with the concurrence of the Secretary of State make regulations modifying provisions of Parts I to V and this Part of this Act and Part II of the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) Act 1999, and any provisions of Chapter II of Part I of the Social Security Act 1998 which correspond to provisions of Part III of the 1975 Act, in such manner as the Treasury think proper, in their application to persons who are or have been, or are to be, employed on board any ship, vessel, hovercraft or aircraft.
(2) Regulations under subsection (1) above may in particular provide—
(a) for any such provision to apply to such persons, notwithstanding that it would not otherwise apply;
(b) for excepting such persons from the application of any such provision where they neither are domiciled nor have a place of residence in any part of Great Britain;
(c) for requiring the payment of secondary Class 1 contributions in respect of such persons, whether or not they are (within the meaning of Part I of this Act) employed earners;
(d) for the taking of evidence, for the purposes of any claim to benefit, in a country or territory outside Great Britain, by a British consular official or such other person as may be prescribed;
(e) for enabling persons who are or have been so employed to authorise the payment of the whole or any part of any benefit to which they are or may become entitled to such of their dependants as may be prescribed.
The Treasury may with the concurrence of the Secretary of State make regulations modifying any of the following provisions of this Act, namely—
(a) Part I;
(b) Part II (except section 60); and
(c) Parts III and IV,
in such manner as the Treasury think proper, in their application to women who are or have been married.
The Treasury may with the concurrence of the Secretary of State make regulations modifying Parts I to V of this Act and Part II of the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) Act 1999, and any provisions of Chapter II of Part I of the Social Security Act 1998 which correspond to provisions of Part III of the 1975 Act, in such manner as the Treasury think proper, in their application to persons who are or have been outside Great Britain at any prescribed time or in any prescribed circumstances.
120 Employment at sea (continental shelf operations).
(1) The Treasury may with the concurrence of the Secretary of State make regulations modifying Parts I to V and this Part of this Act and Part II of the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) Act 1999, and any provisions of Chapter II of Part I of the Social Security Act 1998 which correspond to provisions of Part III of the 1975 Act, in such manner as the Treasury think proper, in their application to persons (“continental shelf workers”) in any prescribed employment (whether under a contract of service or not) in connection with continental shelf operations.
(2) “Continental shelf operations” means any activities which, if paragraphs (a) and (d) of subsection (8) of section 11 of the Petroleum Act 1998 (application of civil law to certain offshore activities) were omitted, would nevertheless fall within subsection (2) of that section.
(3) In particular (but without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above), regulations under subsection (1) may provide for any prescribed provision of Parts I to V and this Part of this Act to apply to any continental shelf worker notwithstanding that he does not fall within the description of an employed or self-employed earner, or does not fulfil the conditions prescribed under section 1(6) above as to residence or presence in Great Britain.
(4) The Treasury may also, by regulations, make provision for, and in connection with, the issue by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs of certificates to prescribed persons who are, by virtue of regulations under subsection (1), to be treated as the secondary contributor in relation to the payment of earnings to or for the benefit of one or more continental shelf workers—
(a) confirming that the prescribed person's liabilities to pay contributions in respect of the continental shelf workers specified or described in the certificate are being met by another person, and
(b) discharging the prescribed person, while the certificate is in force, from liability to make any payments in respect of the contributions, in the event that the other person fails to pay them in full.
(5) Regulations under subsection (4) may, in particular, make provision about—
(a) applying for a certificate;
(b) the circumstances in which a certificate may, or must, be issued or cancelled;
(c) the form and content of a certificate;
(d) the effect of a certificate (including provision modifying the effect mentioned in subsection (4)(b) or specifying further effects);
(e) the effect of cancelling a certificate.
(1) Regulations made by the Treasury with the concurrence of the Secretary of State may provide—
(a) for a voidable marriage which has been annulled, whether before or after the date when the regulations come into force, to be treated for the purposes of the provisions to which this subsection applies as if it had been a valid marriage which was terminated by divorce at the date of annulment;
(aa) for a voidable civil partnership which has been annulled, whether before or after the date when the regulations come into force, to be treated for the purposes of the provisions to which this subsection applies as if it had been a valid civil partnership which was dissolved at the date of annulment;
(b) as to the circumstances in which, for the purposes of the enactments to which this section applies, a marriage during the subsistence of which a party to it is at any time married to more than one person is to be treated as having, or as not having, the same consequences as any other marriage.
(2) Subsection (1) above applies—
(a) to any enactment contained in Parts I to V or this Part of this Act; and
(b) to regulations under any such enactment.
122 Interpretation of Parts I to VI and supplementary provisions.
(1) In Parts I to V above and this Part of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“additional Class 4 percentage” is to be construed in accordance with section 15(3ZA)(b) above;
“additional primary percentage” is to be construed in accordance with section 8(2)(b) above;
“adult disability payment” means disability assistance given in accordance with the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022;
“age-related secondary percentage” is to be construed in accordance with section 9A(2) above;
“Bank of England base rate” means—
the rate announced from time to time by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England as the official dealing rate, being the rate at which the Bank is willing to enter into transactions for providing short term liquidity in the money markets, or
where an order under section 19 of the Bank of England Act 1998 is in force, any equivalent rate determined by the Treasury under that section;
“beneficiary”, in relation to any benefit, means the person entitled to that benefit;
“benefit” means—
benefit under Parts II to V of this Act other than Old Cases payments;
as respects any period before 1st July 1992 but not before 6th April 1975, benefit under Part II of the 1975 Act; or
as respects any period before 6th April 1975, benefit under—
the National Insurance Act 1946 or 1965; or
the National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act 1946 or 1965;
(For the meaning of “benefit” in Part 1, see also section 19B)
“the benefits code” has the meaning given by section 63(1) of ITEPA 2003;
“child” has the same meaning as in Part 9 of this Act;
“child disability payment” means disability assistance given in accordance with the Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/174);
“claim” is to be construed in accordance with “claimant”;
“claimant”, in relation to benefit other than industrial injuries benefit, means a person who has claimed benefit;
“claimant”, in relation to industrial injuries benefit, means a person who has claimed industrial injuries benefit;
“contract of service” means any contract of service or apprenticeship whether written or oral and whether express or implied;
“contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance” has the same meaning as in the Jobseekers Act 1995;
“current”, in relation to the lower and upper earnings limits and primary and secondary thresholds under section 5(1) above, means for the time being in force;
“day of interruption of employment” has the meaning given by section 25A(1)(c) above;
“deferred” and “period of deferment”—
in relation to a Category A or Category B retirement pension, have the meanings given by section 55(3), and
in relation to a shared additional pension, have the meanings given by section 55C(3);
“earner” and “earnings” are to be construed in accordance with sections 3, 4 and 112 above;
“employed earner” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 above;
“employment” includes any trade, business, profession, office or vocation and “employed” has a corresponding meaning;
“the employment income Parts of ITEPA 2003” means Parts 2 to 7A of that Act;
“entitled”, in relation to any benefit, is to be construed in accordance with—
the provisions specifically relating to that benefit;
in the case of a benefit specified in section 20(1) above, section 21 above; and
sections 1 to 3 of the Administration Act and section 27 of the Social Security Act 1998;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“first appointed year” means such tax year, no earlier than 2002-03, as may be appointed by order, and “second appointed year” means such subsequent tax year as may be so appointed;
“the flat rate introduction year” means such tax year as may be designated as such by order;
“general earnings” has the meaning given by section 7 of ITEPA 2003 and accordingly sections 3 and 112 of this Act do not apply in relation to the word “earnings” when used in the expression “general earnings”;
“industrial injuries benefit” means benefit under Part V of this Act, other than under Schedule 8;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“the Inland Revenue” means the Commissioners of Inland Revenue;
“ITEPA 2003” means the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003;
“late husband”, in relation to a woman who has been more than once married, means her last husband;
“long-term benefit” has the meaning assigned to it by section 20(2) above;
“loss of physical faculty” includes disfigurement whether or not accompanied by any loss of physical faculty;
“lower earnings limit”, “upper earnings limit” "primary threshold” and “secondary threshold" are to be construed in accordance with subsection (1) of section 5 above, and references to the lower or upper earnings limit, or to the primary or secondary threshold, of a tax year are to whatever is (or was) for that year the limit or threshold in force under that subsection;
“lower-paid employment as a minister of religion” has the meaning given by section 290D of ITEPA 2003;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“main Class 4 percentage” is to be construed in accordance with section 15(3ZA) above;
“main primary percentage” is to be construed in accordance with section 8(2) above;
“medical examination” includes bacteriological and radiographical tests and similar investigations, and “medically examined” has a corresponding meaning;
“medical treatment” means medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment (including any course or diet or other regimen), and references to a person receiving or submitting himself to medical treatment are to be construed accordingly;
“the Northern Ireland Department” means the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland;
“Old Cases payments” means payments under Part I or II of Schedule 8 to this Act;
“PAYE settlement agreement” has the same meaning as in Chapter 5 of Part 11 of ITEPA 2003;
“payments by way of occupational or personal pension” means, in relation to a person, periodical payments which, in connection with the coming to an end of an employment of his, fall to be made to him-
out of money provided wholly or partly by the employer or under arrangements made by the employer; or
out of money provided under an enactment or instrument having the force of law in any part of the United Kingdom or elsewhere; or
under a personal pension scheme as defined in section 84(1) of the 1986 Act; or
under a pension scheme registered under section 153 of the Finance Act 2004; or
and such other payments as are prescribed;
“pension age disability payment” means disability assistance given in accordance with the Disability Assistance for Older People (Scotland) Regulations 2024;
“pensionable age” has the meaning given by the rules in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 1995;
“pneumoconiosis” means fibrosis of the lungs due to silica dust, asbestos dust, or other dust, and includes the condition of the lungs known as dust-reticulation;
“PPF periodic payments” means—
any periodic compensation payments made in relation to a person, payable under the pension compensation provisions as specified in section 162(2) of the Pensions Act 2004 or Article 146(2) of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (the pension compensation provisions); or
any periodic payments made in relation to a person, payable under section 166 of the Pensions Act 2004 or Article 150 of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (duty to pay scheme benefits unpaid at assessment date etc.);
“prescribe” means prescribe by regulations;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“qualifying earnings factor” means an earnings factor equal to the lower earnings limit for the tax year in question multiplied by 52;
“qualifying young person” has the same meaning as in Part 9 of this Act;
“Regulation (EC) No 1408/71” means Council Regulation (EC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 , as amended from time to time, on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community;
“Regulation (EC) No 883/2004” means Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 , as amended from time to time, on the coordination of social security systems;
“relative” includes a person who is a relative by marriage or civil partnership;
“relevant accident” means the accident in respect of which industrial injuries benefit is claimed or payable;
“relevant injury” means the injury in respect of which industrial injuries benefit is claimed or payable;
“relevant loss of faculty” means—
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
in relation to industrial injuries benefit, the loss of faculty resulting from the relevant injury;
“Scottish adult disability living allowance” means disability assistance given in accordance with the Disability Assistance (Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance) Regulations 2025;
“secondary percentage” is to be construed in accordance with section 9(2) above;
“self-employed earner” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 above;
“short-term benefit” has the meaning assigned to it by section 20(2) above;
“tax week” means one of the successive periods in a tax year beginning with the first day of that year and every seventh day thereafter, the last day of a tax year (or, in the case of a tax year ending in a leap year, the last two days) to be treated accordingly as a separate tax week;
“tax year” means the 12 months beginning with 6th April in any year, the expression “1978-79” meaning the tax year beginning with 6th April 1978, and any correspondingly framed reference to a pair of successive years being construed as a reference to the tax year beginning with 6th April in the earlier of them;
“trade or business” includes, in relation to a public or local authority, the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of that authority;
“trade union” means an association of employed earners;
“unit of additional pension” means a unit of additional pension for which a person has paid a Class 3A contribution under section 14A;
“the upper accrual point” is £770;
“week” ... means a period of 7 days beginning with Sunday;
“working life” has the meaning given by paragraph 5(8) of Schedule 3 to this Act.
(1A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(2) Regulations made by the Treasury with the concurrence of the Secretary of State may make provision modifying the meaning of “employment” for the purposes of any provision of Parts I to V and this Part of this Act.
(3) Provision may be made by the Treasury by regulations made with the concurrence of the Secretary of State as to the circumstances in which a person is to be treated as residing or not residing with another person for any of the purposes of Parts I to V and this Part of this Act and as to the circumstances in which persons are to be treated for any of those purposes as residing or not residing together.
(4) A person who is residing with his spouse shall be treated for the purposes of Parts I to V and this Part of this Act as entitled to any child benefit to which his spouse is entitled.
(5) Regulations may, for the purposes of any provision of those Parts under which the right to any benefit or increase of benefit depends on a person being or having been entitled to child benefit, make provision whereby a person is to be treated as if he were or had been so entitled or as if he were not or had not been so entitled.
(6) For the purposes of Parts I to V and this Part of this Act a person is “permanently incapable of self-support” if (but only if) he is incapable of supporting himself by reason of physical or mental infirmity and is likely to remain so incapable for the remainder of his life.
(6A) The Treasury may by regulations prescribe an equivalent of the upper accrual point in relation to earners paid otherwise than weekly (and references in this or any other Act to “the prescribed equivalent”, in the context of the upper accrual point, are to the equivalent prescribed under this subsection in relation to such earners).
(6B) The power conferred by subsection (6A) includes power to prescribe an amount which exceeds by not more than £1 the amount which is the arithmetical equivalent of the upper accrual point.
(7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(1) Prescribed schemes shall provide for the following benefits (in this Act referred to as “income-related benefits”)—
(a) income support;
(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(d) housing benefit; and
(e) council tax benefit.
(2) The Secretary of State shall make copies of schemes prescribed under subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) above available for public inspection at local offices of the Department for Work and Pensions at all reasonable hours without payment.
(3) Every authority granting housing benefit—
(a) shall take such steps as appear to them appropriate for the purpose of securing that persons who may be entitled to housing benefit from the authority become aware that they may be entitled to it; and
(b) shall make copies of the housing benefit scheme, with any modifications adopted by them under the Administration Act, available for public inspection at their principal office at all reasonable hours without payment.
(4) Each billing authority and in Scotland each local authority—
(a) shall take such steps as appear to it appropriate for the purpose of securing that any person who may be entitled to council tax benefit in respect of council tax payable to the authority becomes aware that he may be entitled to it; and
(b) shall make copies of the council tax benefit scheme, with any modifications adopted by it under the Administration Act, available for public inspection at its principal office at all reasonable hours without payment.
(1) A person in Great Britain is entitled to income support if—
(a) he is of or over the age of 16;
(aa) he has not attained the qualifying age for state pension credit;
(b) he has no income or his income does not exceed the applicable amount;
(c) he is not engaged in remunerative work and, if he is a member of a couple, the other member is not so engaged; ...
(d) except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, he is not receiving relevant education;
(e) he falls within a prescribed category of person; ...
(f) he is not entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance and, if he is a member of a couple, the other member of the couple is not, and the couple are not, entitled to an income-based jobseeker’s allowance; ...
(g) if he is a member of a couple, the other member of the couple is not entitled to state pension credit; and
(h) he is not entitled to an employment and support allowance and, if he is a member of a couple, the other member of the couple is not entitled to an income-related employment and support allowance.
(1A) Regulations under paragraph (e) of subsection (1) must secure that a person who—
(a) is not a member of a couple, and
(b) is responsible for, and a member of the same household as, a child under the age of 5,
falls within a category of person prescribed under that paragraph.
(1B) Subsection (1A) does not apply if regulations under subsection (4)(c) of section 1A of the Jobseekers Act 1995 containing the provision mentioned in subsection (5) of that section are in force.
(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4) Subject to subsection (5) below, where a person is entitled to income support, then—
(a) if he has no income, the amount shall be the applicable amount; and
(b) if he has income, the amount shall be the difference between his income and the applicable amount.
(5) Where a person is entitled to income support for a period to which this subsection applies, the amount payable for that period shall be calculated in such manner as may be prescribed.
(6) Subsection (5) above applies—
(a) to a period of less than a week which is the whole period for which income support is payable; and
(b) to any other period of less than a week for which it is payable.
(7) In this section, “income-related employment and support allowance” means an income-related allowance under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (employment and support allowance).
(1) This section applies to a person, other than a child or a person of a prescribed description—
(a) who is prevented from being entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance by section 14 of the Jobseekers Act 1995 (trade disputes); or
(b) who would be so prevented if otherwise entitled to that benefit,
except during any period shown by the person to be a period of incapacity for work ... or to be within the maternity period.
(2) In subsection (1) above “the maternity period” means the period commencing at the beginning of the 6th week before the expected week of confinement and ending at the end of the 7th week after the week in which confinement takes place.
(3) For the purpose of calculating income support—
(a) so long as this section applies to a person who is not a member of a family, the applicable amount shall be disregarded;
(b) so long as it applies to a person who is a member of a family but is not a member of a couple, the portion of the applicable amount which is included in respect of him shall be disregarded;
(c) so long as it applies to one of the members of a couple—
(i) if the applicable amount consists only of an amount in respect of them, it shall be reduced to one half; and
(ii) if it includes other amounts, the portion of it which is included in respect of them shall be reduced to one-half and any further portion of it which is included in respect of the member of the couple to whom this section applies shall be disregarded;
(d) so long as it applies to both the members of a couple—
(i) if neither of them is responsible for a child or person of a prescribed description who is a member of the same household, the applicable amount shall be disregarded; and
(ii) in any other case, the portion of the applicable amount which is included in respect of them and any further portion of it which is included in respect of either of them shall be disregarded.
(4) Where a reduction under subsection (3)(c) above would not produce a sum which is a multiple of 5p, the reduction shall be to the nearest lower sum which is such a multiple.
(5) Where this section applies to a person for any period, then, except so far as regulations provide otherwise—
(a) in calculating the entitlement to income support of that person or a member of his family the following shall be treated as his income and shall not be disregarded—
(i) any payment which he or a member of his family receives or is entitled to obtain by reason of the person to whom this section applies being without employment for that period; and
(ii) without prejudice to the generality of sub-paragraph (i) above, any amount which becomes or would on an application duly made become available to him in that period by way of repayment of income tax deducted from his taxable earnings (as defined by section 10 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003) under PAYE regulations; and
(b) any payment by way of income support for that period or any part of it which apart from this paragraph would be made to him, or to a person whose applicable amount is aggregated with his—
(i) shall not be made if the weekly rate of payment is equal to or less than the relevant sum; or
(ii) if it is more than the relevant sum, shall be at a weekly rate equal to the difference.
(6) In respect of any period less than a week, subsection (5) above shall have effect subject to such modifications as may be prescribed.
(7) Subject to subsection (8) below, “the relevant sum” for the purposes of subsection (5) above shall be £53.00.
(8) If an order under section 150 of the Administration Act (annual up-rating) has the effect of increasing payments of income support, from the time when the order comes into force there shall be substituted, in subsection (5)(b) above, for the references to the sum for the time being mentioned in it references to a sum arrived at by—
(a) increasing that sum by the percentage by which the personal allowance under paragraph 1(1) of Part I of Schedule 2 to the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 for a single person aged not less than 25 has been increased by the order; and
(b) if the sum as so increased is not a multiple of 50p, disregarding the remainder if it is 25p and, if it is not, rounding it up or down to the nearest 50p,
and the order shall state the substituted sum.
If a person returns to work with the same employer after a period during which section 126 above applies to him, and whether or not his return is before the end of any stoppage of work in relation to which he is or would be prevented from being entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance—
(a) that section shall cease to apply to him at the commencement of the day on which he returns to work; and
(b) until the end of the period of 15 days beginning with that day, section 124(1) above shall have effect in relation to him as if the following paragraph were substituted for paragraph (c)—
(c) in the case of a member of a couple, the other member is not engaged in remunerative work; and
; and
(c) any sum paid by way of income support for that period of 15 days to him or, where he is a member of a couple, to the other member of that couple, shall be recoverable in accordance with the regulations from the person to whom it was paid or from any prescribed person or, where the person to whom it was paid is a member of a couple, from the other member of the couple.
(1) A person is entitled to housing benefit if—
(a) he is liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling in Great Britain which he occupies as his home;
(b) there is an appropriate maximum housing benefit in his case; and
(c) either—
(i) he has no income or his income does not exceed the applicable amount; or
(ii) his income exceeds that amount, but only by so much that there is an amount remaining if the deduction for which subsection (3)(b) below provides is made.
(2) In subsection (1) above “payments in respect of a dwelling” means such payments as may be prescribed, but the power to prescribe payments does not include power to prescribe—
(a) payments to a billing authority or to a local authority in Scotland in respect of council tax;
(b) mortgage payments, or, in relation to Scotland, payments under heritable securities.
(3) Where a person is entitled to housing benefit, then—
(a) if he has no income or his income does not exceed the applicable amount, the amount of the housing benefit shall be the amount which is the appropriate maximum housing benefit in his case; and
(b) if his income exceeds the applicable amount, the amount of the housing benefit shall be what remains after the deduction from the appropriate maximum housing benefit of prescribed percentages of the excess of his income over the applicable amount.
(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(1) For the purposes of section 130 above, the appropriate maximum housing benefit (in this section referred to as “the AMHB”) is determined in accordance with this section.
(2) Regulations must prescribe the manner in which the AMHB is to be determined.
(3) The provision which may be made by the regulations includes provision for the AMHB to be ascertained in the prescribed manner by reference to rent officer determinations.
(4) The regulations may require an authority administering housing benefit in any prescribed case—
(a) to apply for a rent officer determination, and
(b) to do so within such time as may be specified in the regulations.
(5) The regulations may, for the purpose of determining the AMHB, provide for the amount of the liability mentioned in section 130(1)(a) above to be taken to be an amount other than the actual amount of that liability (and, without prejudice to the generality of this subsection, may provide for it to be taken to be the amount of a rent officer determination).
(6) The regulations may, for that purpose, make provision for determining the amount of liability under section 130(1)(a) above which a person is treated as having by virtue of regulations under section 137(2)(j) below (and, without prejudice to the generality of this subsection, may provide for that amount to be the amount of a rent officer determination).
(7) A rent officer determination is a determination made by a rent officer in the exercise of functions under section 122 of the Housing Act 1996.