Legalize / United Kingdom / Public General Act

Social Security (Northern Ireland) Act 1975

Type Public General Act

Publication 1975-03-20

Last updated 2020-01-13

State In force

Department Statute Law Database

Source legislation.gov.uk

articles Not indexed

Reform history JSON API

(2) In this section " severely disabled person " means a person in respect of whom there is payable either an attendance allowance or such other payment out of public funds on account of his need for attendance as may be prescribed.

(3) A person shall not be entitled to an allowance under this section if he is under the age of 16 or receiving full-time education; and a woman shall not be entitled to any such allowance if—

(a) she is married and either—

(i) she is residing with her husband; or

(ii) he is contributing to her maintenance at a weekly rate not less than the weekly rate of such an allowance; or

(b) she is cohabiting with a man as his wife.

(4) A person shall not be entitled to an allowance under this section unless he satisfies prescribed conditions as to residence or presence in Northern Ireland.

(5) Subject to subsection (6) below, a person who has attained pensionable age shall not be entitled to an allowance under this section unless he was so entitled (or is treated by regulations as having been so entitled) immediately before attaining that age.

(6) Regulations may make provision whereby a person who has attained retiring age (meaning 70 in the case of a man and 65 in the case of a woman) and was entitled to an allowance under this section immediately before attaining that age continues to be so entitled notwithstanding that he is not caring for a severely disabled person or no longer satisfies the requirements of subsection (1)(a) or (b) above.

(7) No person shall be entitled for the same day to more than one allowance under this section; and where, apart from this subsection, two or more persons would be entitled for the same day to such an allowance in respect of the same severely disabled person, one of them only shall be entitled, being such one of them as they may jointly elect in the prescribed manner or as may, in default of such election, be determined by the Department in its discretion.

(8) Regulations may prescribe the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated for the purposes of this section as engaged, or regularly and substantially engaged, in caring for a severely disabled person, as gainfully employed or as receiving full-time education.

(9) An invalid care allowance shall be payable at the weekly rate specified in relation thereto in Schedule 4, Part III, paragraph 3.

Guardian's allowance

38

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act (and in particular to those of section 43 imposing limitations on payment of benefit in respect of children), a person shall be entitled to a guardian's allowance at the weekly rate specified in relation thereto in Schedule 4, Part III, paragraph 4, in respect of a child of his family, where the circumstances are any of those specified in subsection (2) below.

(2) The circumstances referred to in subsection (1) are—

(a) that both of the child's parents are dead ; or

(b) that one of the child's parents is dead and the person claiming a guardian's allowance shows that he was at the date of the death unaware of, and has failed after all reasonable efforts to discover, the whereabouts of the other parent; or

(3) There shall be no entitlement to a guardian's allowance in respect of a child unless at least one of the child's parents satisfies, or immediately before his death satisfied, such conditions as may be prescribed as to nationality, residence, place of birth or other matters.

(4) Regulations—

(a) may modify subsection (2) or (3) above in relation to cases in which a child has been adopted or is illegitimate, or the marriage of a child's parents has been terminated by divorce;

(b) shall prescribe the circumstances in which a person is to be treated for the purposes of this section as being in prison (by reference to his undergoing a sentence of imprisonment for life or of a prescribed minimum duration, or to his being in legal custody in prescribed circumstances); and

(c) may, for cases where entitlement to a guardian's allowance is established by reference to a person being in prison, provide—

(i) for requiring him to pay to the National Insurance Fund sums paid by way of a guardian's allowance;

(ii) for suspending payment of an allowance where a conviction, sentence or order of a court is subject to appeal, and for matters arising from the decision of an appeal;

(iii) for the cases in which a child is to be treated as a child of the claimant's family; and

(iv) for reducing the rate of an allowance in cases where the person in prison contributes to the cost of providing for the child.

(5) In the case of a child who is a child of the family of a man and his wife, the wife only shall be entitled to a guardian's allowance; but subsections (2) to (4) of section 4 of the Family Allowances Act (which specify the persons who are to receive an allowance under that Act payable in respect of such a child) shall apply in relation to a guardian's allowance as they apply in relation to an allowance under that Act.

(6) No person shall be entitled to a guardian's allowance in respect of a child of which he or she is the parent

Retirement benefits for the aged

39

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act—

(a) a person who was over pensionable age on 5th July 1948 and satisfies such conditions as may be prescribed shall be entitled to a Category C retirement pension at the appropriate weekly rate ;

(b) a woman whose husband is entitled to a Category C retirement pension shall, if she is over pensionable age and has retired from regular employment and satisfies such other conditions as may be prescribed, be entitled to such a pension at the appropriate weekly rate; and

(c) a person who is over the age of 80 and satisfies such conditions as may be prescribed shall be entitled to a Category D retirement pension at the appropriate weekly rate if—

(i) he is not entitled to a Category A, Category B or Category C retirement pension; or

(ii) he is entitled to such a pension but it is payable at a weekly rate which, disregarding any increase (for dependants) under section 41, 45 or 46, is less than the appropriate weekly rate.

(2) The appropriate weekly rate of a Category C or Category D retirement pension—

(a) shall be the lower rate specified in relation thereto in Schedule 4, Part III, paragraph 5, where—

(i) the pensioner is a married woman, and

(ii) she has not, at any time since she became entitled to her pension, ceased to be a married woman; and

(b) shall be the higher rate so specified in any other case.

(3) A Category C or Category D retirement pension shall be payable for the pensioner's life.

(4) Regulations may provide for the payment—

(a) to a widow whose husband was over pensionable age on 5th July 1948 ; or

(b) to a woman whose marriage to a husband who was over pensionable age on that date was terminated otherwise than by his death,

of a Category C retirement pension, or of benefit corresponding to a widow's pension or a widowed mother's allowance; and any such pension or benefit shall be at the prescribed rate.

Age addition

40

(1) A person who is over the age of 80 and entitled to a retirement pension of any category shall be entitled to an increase of the pension, known as age addition.

(2) Where a person is in receipt of a pension or allowance payable by virtue of any prescribed enactment or instrument (whether passed or made before or after this Act) and—

(a) he is over the age of 80; and

(b) he fulfils such other conditions as may be prescribed,

she shall be entitled to an increase of that pension or allowance, also known as age addition.

(3) Age addition shall be payable for the life of the person entitled, at the weekly rate specified in relation thereto in Schedule 4, Part III, paragraph 6.

CHAPTER III — Increases for Dependants

Child dependants

Beneficiary's dependent children

41

(1) Subject to section 30(1) of this Act and to the following provisions of this Part, the weekly rate of any benefit to which this subsection applies shall, for any period for which the beneficiary has a family which includes a child or children, be increased in respect of that child, or each respectively of those children, by the appropriate amount specified in relation to the benefit in question in Schedule 4, Part IV, column (2) or (3).

(2) Subsection (1) above applies to—

(a) unemployment benefit;

(b) sickness benefit;

(d) maternity allowance;

(e) widow's allowance; and

(f) Category A, B or C retirement pension.

(3) In the application of subsection (1) of this section to a maternity allowance, references to a child or children shall include references to any child or children born to the beneficiary on the occasion of the confinement by reason of whose actual or expected occurrence she became entitled to the allowance.

(4) Subject to section 43 below, the weekly rate of a widowed mother's allowance payable by virtue of section 25(1)(a) shall be increased for any period in respect of the child or, if more than one, each respectively of the children falling within paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of section 25(2) for the time being included in her family by the appropriate amount specified in relation to that allowance in Schedule 4, Part IV, column (2) or (3).

(5) Subject to section 43, the weekly rate of a child's special allowance shall, for any period for which the beneficiary has a family which includes 2 or more children with respect to whom the conditions specified in section 31(b) and (c) are satisfied, be increased in respect of each respectively of those children other than the elder or eldest by the appropriate amount specified in relation to that allowance in Schedule 4, Part IV, column (3).

(6) Where the beneficiary by whom an increase of benefit under this section is claimed is a married woman residing with her husband, it shall be an additional condition with respect to receipt of that increase that her husband is incapable of self-support.

Additional provisions as to increase under s. 41

42

(1) This section has effect with respect to increases under section 41 of this Act of benefits other than a child's special allowance.

(2) Subject to section 43, a child of the family of a woman for the time being residing with the beneficiary is to be treated for the purposes of section 41 as a child of the beneficiary's family if the child—

(a) is an illegitimate son or daughter of theirs; or

(b) was born not less than 6 months before the day for which the increase provided for by that section is claimed and was wholly or mainly maintained by the beneficiary throughout the 6 months ending immediately before that day.

(3) Subject to section 43, where a man is entitled to unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, an invalidity pension, or a Category A or C retirement pension, there is to be treated for the purposes of section 41 as included in the beneficiary's family—

(a) a child who, on the day for which the increase provided by section 41 is claimed, could (though not otherwise included in the beneficiary's family) have been treated as so included by virtue of paragraph 3 of the Schedule to the Family Allowances Act; and

(b) a child who could have been so treated but for the fact that the beneficiary is contributing at the appropriate rate to the cost of providing for the child;

and " the appropriate rate" is a weekly rate which, though not less than the prescribed rate, is less than the minimum rate for the time being required for the purposes of section 3(2) of the Family Allowances Act.

(4) In the case of retirement pensions (except Category D)—

(a) where a man and his wife are both entitled to a retirement pension (being a Category A or C pension in his case and a Category B or C pension in hers)—

(i) they shall not both be entitled for the same period to an increase under section 41(1) in respect of the same child, nor shall they both be entitled for the same period, in respect of different children, to such an increase at the rate applicable to an only, elder or eldest child;

(ii) where one of them is entitled to such an increase at the rate above mentioned in respect of a child not included or treated as included in the other's family, the rates of any such increases to which the other is entitled shall be the rates which would have been appropriate if that child had been the elder or eldest child of the other's family;

(b) for any reference in subsection (2) above to the day for which the increase provided for by section 41 is claimed there shall be substituted a reference to the date of retirement or, where the beneficiary is a woman who became entitled to the pension without having retired, the date when she so became entitled;

and where, but for paragraph (a) above, a man and his wife would both be entitled to an increase of a retirement pension under section 41(1), regulations may make provision as to their priority.

Limits of increase for dependent children

43

(1) Where, apart from this subsection, a person is entitled to receive, in respect of a particular child who is, or who falls to be treated for the purposes of the relevant provision as, a child of that person's family, payment of an amount by way of a child's special allowance under section 31, or a guardian's allowance under section 38, or of any increase under section 41 of any benefit, that amount shall not be payable unless one of the following conditions is satisfied—

(a) that the child in question is living with the beneficiary; or

(b) that the requisite contributions are being made to the cost of providing for the child.

(2) The condition specified in subsection (1)(b) above is to be treated as satisfied if, but only if—

(a) such contributions are being made at a weekly rate not less than the amount referred to in subsection (1)—

(i) by the beneficiary, or

(ii) where the beneficiary is one of two spouses living together, by them together; and

(b) where an allowance under the Family Allowances Act is payable in respect of the child as a child of the beneficiary's family, the contributions are over and above those required for the purposes of satisfying section 3(2) of that Act or (as the case may be) the Schedule to that Act, paragraph 1(2).

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) above, a child's special allowance is to be treated as a payment in respect of an only, or the elder or eldest, child with respect to whom the conditions specified in section 31(b) and (c) of this Act are satisfied, without prejudice, however, to any payment by way of an increase of the allowance in respect of any other such child under section 41(5).

(4) Where a person is entitled in respect of a child to a guardian's allowance under section 38, the amount (if any) payable to that or any other person by way of any other benefit under Chapters I to III of this Part of this Act in respect of children of any family shall be such, and such only, as would be payable if the first-mentioned child were not included or treated as included in any family.

Adult dependants

Short term benefit: increase for adult dependants

44

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the weekly rate of unemployment benefit or sickness benefit shall be increased by the amount specified in relation to the benefit in question in Schedule 4, Part IV, column (4), for any period during which—

(a) the beneficiary is—

(i) residing with his wife, or

(ii) contributing to the maintenance of his wife at a weekly rate not less than that amount; and

(b) his wife is not engaged in any one or more employments from which her weekly earnings exceed that amount.

(2) Subject to the following subsections, the weekly rate—

(a) of unemployment benefit or sickness benefit in the case of a beneficiary not entitled to an increase under subsection (1) above ; and

(b) of a maternity allowance in any case,

shall be increased by the amount specified in relation to the benefit in question in Schedule 4, Part IV, column (4), for any of the periods mentioned in subsection (3) below.

(3) Those periods are—

(a) any period during which the beneficiary's husband is incapable of self-support and either they are residing together or she is contributing to his maintenance at a weekly rate not less than the amount so specified;

(b) any period during which the beneficiary has residing with him, and is wholly or mainly maintaining, such other relative as may be prescribed, being a relative in relation to whom such further conditions as may be prescribed are fulfilled ;

(c) any period during which some female person (not a child) has the care of a child or children of the beneficiary's family, or of a child or children treated as such for the purposes of section 41, being a person in relation to whom such further conditions as may be prescribed are fulfilled.

(4) A beneficiary shall not under subsection (2) above be entitled for the same period to an increase of benefit in respect of more than one person.

(5) Where a person is entitled to unemployment benefit or sickness benefit under section 14(2)(b) or (c)—

(a) he shall not be entitled to an increase under subsection (2) above in respect of any such period as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (3) above; and

(b) if he would have been entitled only by virtue of section 33 to the retirement pension by reference to which the weekly rate of the unemployment benefit or sickness benefit is determined, the amount of any increase under this section of that weekly rate shall be that which would have been applicable by virtue of that section in the case of such an increase of the weekly rate of that pension.

(6) In this section, " relative " does not include any person who is a child.

Pension increase (wife)

45

(1) This section applies to—

(a) a Category A or Category C retirement pension ;

(b) an invalidity pension.

(2) Subject to the following provisions, the weekly rate of a pension to which this section applies, when payable to a man, shall be increased by the amount respectively specified in relation to the relevant pension in Schedule 4, Part IV, column (4)—

(a) for any period during which the pensioner is residing with his wife; or

(b) for any period during which the pensioner is contributing to the maintenance of his wife at a weekly rate not less than that amount, and his wife is not engaged in any one or more employments from which her weekly earnings exceed that amount.

(3) Where the pensioner is residing with his wife, and the earnings of his wife for the week ending last before any week for which he is entitled to benefit under this section exceeded £20, the weekly rate of benefit under this section shall for the last-mentioned week be reduced—

(a) where the excess is less than £4, by 5 pence for each complete 10 pence of the excess; and

(b) where the excess is not less than £4, by 5 pence for each complete 10 pence of the excess up to £4 and by 5 pence for each complete 5 pence of any further excess.

In this subsection " week", where used in the expression " week for which he is entitled to benefit" means such period of 7 days as may be prescribed by regulations made for the purposes of this subsection.

(4) With effect from such day as may be prescribed in the week containing 6th April in a year mentioned in the first column below, subsection (3) above shall have effect with the substitution for " £20 " of the amount specified in relation to that year in the second column below—

1976	£35
1977	£50.

Pension increase (female with care of children)

46

(1) This section applies to—

(a) a Category A retirement pension ;

(b) a Category C retirement pension by virtue of section 39(1)(a);

(2) Subject to the following provisions, the weekly rate of a pension to which this section applies shall be increased by the amount specified in Schedule 4, Part IV, column (4), for any period during which some female person (not a child) has the care of a child or children of the pensioner's family, or of a child or children treated as such for the purposes of section 41.

(3) Subsection (2) above shall not apply if the pensioner is a man whose wife is entitled to a Category B retirement pension, or to a Category C retirement pension by virtue of section 39(1)(b), or in such other cases as may be prescribed.

(4) Regulations may, in a case within subsection (2) above in which the female person there referred to is residing with the pensioner and fulfils such further conditions as may be prescribed, authorise an increase of benefit under this section, but subject to a reduction in respect of the female person's earnings, other than such of her earnings from employment by the pensioner as may be prescribed, comparable to the reduction under section 45(3) above.

Invalidity pension (dependent relative)

47

(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, the weekly rate of an invalidity pension shall be increased by the amount specified in Schedule 4, Part IV, column (4)—

(a) for any period during which the pensioner's husband is incapable of self-support and either they are residing together or she is contributing to his maintenance at a weekly rate not less than the amount so specified; or

(b) for any period during which the pensioner has residing with him and is wholly or mainly maintaining such other relative as may be prescribed, being a relative in relation to whom such further conditions as may be prescribed are fulfilled.

In this subsection " relative " does not include any person who is a child.

(2) Where a person is entitled to an invalidity pension at a weekly rate determined under section 15(4) of this Act—

(a) subsection (1) above does not apply ; and

(b) if the pensioner would have been entitled only by virtue of section 33 to the retirement pension by reference to which the weekly rate of the invalidity pension is determined, the amount of an increase under this section of that weekly rate shall be that which would have been applicable by virtue of that section in the case of such an increase of the weekly rate of that pension.

Pension increases: supplementary provisions

48

(1) A pensioner shall not under sections 45 to 47 above be entitled for the same period to an increase of benefit in respect of more than one person.

(2) Sections 45 and 46 above, as they relate to the amount of the increase of a retirement pension, have effect subject to section 30(1) of this Act (earnings rule); and any reduction to be made under that subsection shall be made, so far as necessary—

(a) first, against the amount of the benefit set out in Schedule 4, Part I, plus any increase under section 28(4) or (5) or 29(10);

(b) secondly, against the increase under section 45 or 46 and before any reduction to be made under section 45(3); and

Increase of certain non-contributory benefits

Beneficiaries under ss. 36 and 37

49

The weekly rates—

(a) of a non-contributory invalidity pension ; and

(b) of an invalid care allowance ;

shall, in such circumstances as may be prescribed, be increased for child or adult dependants by the appropriate amount specified in relation thereto in Schedule 4, Part IV.

CHAPTER IV — Benefit for Industrial Injuries

General provisions as to benefit

Descriptions of industrial injuries benefits

50

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, where an employed earner suffers personal injury caused after 4th July 1948 by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, being employed earner's employment, there shall be payable to or in respect of him the industrial injuries benefits specified below in this section.

(2) The benefits are—

(a) injury benefit, payable to the earner in accordance with section 56 below if during the period specified in subsection (4) of that section he is, as the result of the injury, incapable of work ;

(b) disablement benefit (by way of gratuity or pension), payable to the earner in accordance with sections 57 to 63 below if he suffers, as a result of the injury, from loss of physical or mental faculty ;

(c) industrial death benefit, payable in accordance with sections 67 to 75 below to the persons specified in those sections, if the earner dies as a result of the injury.

(3) For the purposes of this Chapter, an accident arising in the course of an employed earner's employment shall be deemed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, also to have arisen out of that employment.

(4) Regulations may provide for treating an employed earner for the purposes of this Chapter as incapable of work as the result of an accident or injury when he would not be so treated apart from the regulations, and may also make provision—

(a) as to the days which, in the case of an employed earner who at any time is or is to be treated as incapable of work as the result of an accident or injury, are or are not to be treated for the purposes of industrial injuries benefit as days of incapacity for work ; and

(b) as to the day which, in the case of night workers and other special cases, is to be treated for the purpose of such benefit as the day of the accident.

(5) Subject to sections 124 and 126 of this Act (mariners, airmen and others), industrial injuries benefit shall not be payable in respect of an accident happening while the earner is outside Northern Ireland.

Relevant employments

51

(1) In this Chapter and Chapter V below " employed earner's employment" shall be taken to include any employment by virtue of which a person is, or is treated by regulations as being for the purposes of industrial injuries benefit, an employed earner.

(2) Regulations may provide for any prescribed employment not to be treated for the purposes of industrial injuries benefit as employed earner's employment notwithstanding that it would be so treated apart from the regulations.

(3) For the purposes of this Chapter an employment shall be an employed earner's employment in relation to an accident if (and only if) it is, or is treated by regulations as being, such an employment when the accident occurs.

Earner acting in breach of regulations, etc.

52

An accident shall be deemed to arise out of and in the course of an employed earner's employment, notwithstanding that he is at the time of the accident acting in contravention of any statutory or other regulations applicable to his employment, or of any orders given by or on behalf of his employer, or that he is acting without instructions from his employer, if—

(a) the accident would have been deemed so to have arisen had the act not been done in contravention of any such regulations or orders, or without such instructions, as the case may be ; and

(b) the act is done for the purposes of and in connection with the employer's trade or business.

Earner travelling in employer's transport

53

(1) An accident happening while an employed earner is, with the express or implied permission of his employer, travelling as a passenger by any vehicle to or from his place of work shall, notwithstanding that he is under no obligation to his employer to travel by that vehicle, be deemed to arise out of and in the course of his employment if—

(a) the accident would have been deemed so to have arisen had he been under such an obligation; and

(b) at the time of the accident, the vehicle—

(i) is being operated by or on behalf of his employer or some other person by whom it is provided in pursuance of arrangements made with his employer; and

(ii) is not being operated in the ordinary course of a public transport service.

(2) In this section references to a vehicle include a ship, vessel, hovercraft or aircraft.

Accidents happening while meeting emergency

54

An accident happening to an employed earner in or about any premises at which he is for the time being employed for the purposes of his employer's trade or business shall be deemed to arise out of and in the course of his employment if it happens while he is taking steps, on an actual or supposed emergency at those premises, to rescue, succour or protect persons who are, or are thought to be or possibly to be, injured or imperilled, or to avert or minimise serious damage to property.

Accident caused by another's misconduct, etc.

55

(1) An accident shall be treated for the purposes of this Chapter, 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 by another person's misconduct, skylarking or negligence, or by steps taken in consequence of any such misconduct, skylarking or negligence, or 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.

(2) This section applies only to accidents happening after 19th December 1961.

Injury benefit

56

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, an employed earner shall be entitled to injury benefit in respect of any day during the injury benefit period on which, as the result of the relevant injury, he is incapable of work.

(2) In this Chapter " work ", in the contexts " incapable of work" and " incapacity for work", means work which the person in question can reasonably be expected to do.

(3) Injury benefit shall be an allowance payable at the appropriate weekly rate specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 1; and the amount payable for any day of incapacity shall be 1/6th of the weekly rate.

(4) " The injury benefit period" means, in relation to an accident, the period of 156 days (disregarding Sundays) beginning with the day of the accident, or the part of that period for which, under section 57(4) below, disablement benefit in respect of the accident is not available to the earner.

(5) There is no entitlement to injury benefit in respect of any day during the injury benefit period—

(a) unless that day forms part of a period of interruption of employment; or

(b) where that day is one of the first 3 days of a period of interruption of employment.

(6) Section 17(1) of this Act (days for which benefit is payable), and any regulations made under section 17(1) or (2), have effect for the purposes of injury benefit as for those of unemployment benefit or sickness benefit.

(7) A person who has not attained school-leaving age shall not be entitled to injury benefit, except as may be provided by regulations.

Disablement benefit

Disablement gratuity and pension

57

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, an employed earner shall be entitled to disablement benefit 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 1 per cent.

(2) In this Act, references to loss of physical faculty include disfigurement, whether or not accompanied by any actual loss of faculty.

(3) " Assessed " means assessed in accordance with Schedule 8 to this Act; and for the purposes of that Schedule there shall be deemed not to be any relevant loss of faculty when the extent of the resulting disablement, if so assessed, would not amount to 1 per cent.

(4) Disablement benefit shall not be available to a person until after the third day of the period of 156 days (disregarding Sundays) beginning with the day of the relevant accident nor until after the last day (if any) of that period on which he is incapable of work as the result of the relevant accident:

Provided that, where he makes a claim for disablement benefit in respect of the accident before the end of that period and does not withdraw it before it is finally determined, then if on any day of that period not earlier than the making of the claim he is not so incapable of work, the fact that he is or may be so incapable on a subsequent day of the period shall be disregarded for the purposes of this subsection.

(5) Where the extent of the disablement is assessed for the period taken into account as amounting to less than 20 per cent., disablement benefit shall be a disablement gratuity—

(a) of an amount fixed, in accordance with the length of the period and the degree of the disablement, by a prescribed scale, but not in any case exceeding the amount specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 2; and

(b) payable, if and in such cases as regulations so provide, by instalments.

(6) Where the extent of the disablement is assessed for the period taken into account as amounting to 20 per cent, or more, disablement benefit shall be a disablement pension for that period payable at the appropriate weekly rate specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 3:

Provided that where that period is limited by reference to a definite date, the pension shall cease on the death of the beneficiary before that date.

Unemployability supplement

58

(1) The weekly rate of a disablement pension shall, if as the result of the relevant loss of faculty the beneficiary is incapable of work and likely to remain so permanently, be increased by the appropriate amount specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 4.

(2) An increase of pension under this section is referred to in this Act as an " unemployability supplement".

(3) For the purposes of this section, a person may be treated as being incapable of work and likely to remain so permanently, notwithstanding that the loss of faculty is not such as to prevent him being capable of work, if it is likely to prevent his earnings in a year exceeding a prescribed amount not less than £104.

(4) An unemployability supplement shall be payable for such period as may be determined at the time it is granted, but may be renewed from time to time.

Increase of unemployability supplement

59

(1) If on the qualifying date the beneficiary was—

(a) a man under the age of 60, or

(b) a woman under the age of 55,

the weekly rate of unemployability supplement shall be increased by the appropriate amount specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph5.

(2) In this section " the qualifying date " means, subject to subsections (3) and (4) below, the beginning of the first week for which the beneficiary qualified for unemployability supplement.

(3) If the incapacity for work in respect of which unemployability supplement is payable forms part of a period of interruption of employment which has continued from a date earlier than the date fixed under subsection (2) above, the qualifying date means the first day in that period which is a day of incapacity for work, or such earlier days as may be prescribed.

(4) Subject to subsection (3) above, if there have been two or more periods for which the beneficiary was entitled to unemployability supplement, the qualifying date shall be, in relation to unemployability supplement for a day in any one of those periods, the beginning of the first week of that period.

For the purposes of this subsection a break of more than 13 weeks in entitlement to unemployability supplement means that the periods before and after the break are different periods, and a break of 13 weeks or less is to be disregarded.

(5) In this section "period of interruption of employment" has the same meaning as it has for the purposes of unemployment benefit.

Increase of disablement pension for special hardship

60

(1) The weekly rate of a disablement pension shall, subject to the following provisions of this section, be increased by an amount not exceeding the appropriate amount specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 6, if as the result of the relevant loss of faculty the beneficiary—

(a) is incapable, and likely to remain permanently incapable, of following his regular occupation ; and

(b) is incapable of following employment of an equivalent standard which is suitable in his case,

or if as the result of the relevant loss of faculty the beneficiary is, and has at all times since the end of the injury benefit period been, incapable of following that occupation or any such employment.

(2) In subsection (1) above—

(a) the reference to a person's regular occupation is to be taken as not including any subsidiary occupation of his;

(b) the reference to employment of an equivalent standard is to be taken as not including employment other than employed earner's employment;

and in assessing the standard of remuneration in any employment, including a person's regular occupation, regard is to be had to his reasonable prospects of advancement.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a person's regular occupation is to be treated as extending to and including employment in the capacities to which the persons in that occupation (or a class or description of them to which he belonged at the time of the relevant accident) are in the normal course advanced, and to which, if he had continued to follow that occupation without having suffered the relevant loss of faculty, he would have had at least the normal prospects of advancement; and so long as he is, as a result of the relevant loss of faculty, deprived in whole or in part of those prospects, he is to be treated as incapable of following that occupation.

(4) Regulations may for the purposes of this section provide that a person is not to be treated as capable of following an occupation or employment merely because of his working thereat during a period of trial or for purposes of rehabilitation or training or in other prescribed circumstances.

(5) An unemployability supplement and an increase of pension under this section shall not be payable for the same period.

(6) Subject to subsection (5) above, 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, and the amount of the increase shall be determined by reference to the beneficiary's probable standard of remuneration during the period for which it is granted in the employed earner's employments, if any, which are suitable in his case and which he is likely to be capable of following as compared with that in his regular occupation within the meaning of subsection (1) above.

(7) Regulations may make as respects a disablement gratuity provision corresponding to that made by this section as respects a disablement pension, and may include provision for payment of a pension in lieu of a gratuity.

Increase where constant attendance needed

61

(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 7, 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.

Increase during hospital treatment

62

(1) Where a person is awarded disablement benefit but the extent of his disablement is assessed for the period taken into account by the assessment at less than 100 per cent., it shall be treated as assessed at 100 per cent, for any part of that period, whether before or after the making of the assessment or the award of benefit, during which he receives, as an in-patient in a hospital or similar institution, medical treatment for the relevant injury or loss of faculty.

(2) Where the extent of the disablement is assessed for that period at less than 20 per cent., subsection (1) above shall not affect the operation of section 57(5) of this Act; but, in the case of a disablement pension payable by virtue of this section to a person awarded a disablement gratuity wholly or partly in respect of the same period, the weekly rate of the pension (after allowing for any increase under this Chapter) shall be reduced by the amount prescribed as being the weekly value of his gratuity.

Increase for exceptionally severe disablement

63

(1) Where a disablement pension is payable to a person under section 57(6) above, and—

(a) the person 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 61, and the weekly rate of the increase exceeds the amount specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 7(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 61, be further increased by the amount specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 8.

(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.

Increases for dependants

Beneficiary's dependent children

64

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and section 65 below, the weekly rate—

(a) of injury benefit; or

(b) of a disablement pension where the beneficiary is entitled to an unemployability supplement,

shall be increased for any period during which the beneficiary has a family which includes a child or children.

(2) The amount or amounts of the increase shall be—

(a) in the case of injury benefit, as specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 9 ; and

(b) in the case of a disablement pension, as specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 10.

(3) A child of the family of a woman for the time being residing with the beneficiary is to be treated for the purposes of this section as a child of the beneficiary's family if the child either—

(a) is an illegitimate son or daughter of theirs ; or

(b) was born not less than 6 months before the day for which the increase under this section is claimed and was wholly or mainly maintained by the beneficiary throughout the 6 months ending immediately before that day.

(4) Subject to section 65 below, where a man is entitled to injury benefit or a disablement pension, there is to be treated as included in the beneficiary's family for the purposes of this section—

(a) a child who, on the day for which the increase provided by subsection (1) above is claimed, could (though not otherwise included in the beneficiary's family) have been treated as so included by virtue of paragraph 3 of the Schedule to the Family Allowances Act; and

(b) a child who could have been so treated but for the fact that the beneficiary is contributing at the appropriate rate to the cost of providing for the child;

and " the appropriate rate " means a weekly rate which, though not less than the prescribed rate, is less than the minimum rate for the time being required for the purposes of section 3(2) of that Act.

Additional provisions as to increase under s. 64

65

(1) An increase under section 64 above of any amount in respect of a particular child shall for any period be payable only if during that period one or other of the following conditions is satisfied with respect to the child—

(a) the child is living with the beneficiary; or

(b) the requisite contributions are being made to the cost of providing for the child.

(2) The condition specified in subsection (1)(b) above is to be treated as satisfied if, and only if—

(a) such contributions are being made at a weekly rate not less than the amount referred to in subsection (1)—

(i) by the beneficiary, or

(ii) where the beneficiary is one of two spouses living together, by them together ; and

(b) where an allowance under the Family Allowances Act is payable in respect of the child as a child of the beneficiary's family, the contributions are over and above those required for the purposes of satisfying section 3(2) of that Act or (as the case may be) the Schedule to that Act, paragraph 1(2).

(3) Where a person is entitled in respect of a child to a guardian's allowance (section 38), the amount (if any) payable to that or any other person by way of an increase under section 64 of any benefit shall be such, and such only, as would be payable if that child were not included or treated as included in any family.

(4) A married woman shall not be entitled to an increase under section 64 of the weekly rate of injury benefit or a disablement pension for any period during which she is residing with her husband and he is not incapable of self-support.

Adult dependants

66

(1) The weekly rate of injury benefit, and of a disablement pension where the beneficiary is entitled to an unemployability supplement, shall be increased under this section for any period during which—

(a) the beneficiary is—

(i) residing with his wife ; or

(ii) contributing to the maintenance of his wife at the requisite rate ; or

(b) the beneficiary's husband is incapable of self-support, and either they are residing together or she is contributing to his maintenance at the requisite rate; or

(c) the beneficiary has residing with him and is wholly or mainly maintaining any such other relative as may be prescribed, being a relative in relation to whom such further conditions as may be prescribed are fulfilled; or

(d) some female person (not a child) has the care of a child or children of the beneficiary's family, or of a child or children treated as such for the purposes of section 64 above, being a person in relation to whom such further conditions as may be prescribed are fulfilled.

(2) The amount of the increase under this section shall be—

(a) in the case of injury benefit, that specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 11;

(b) in the case of a disablement pension, that specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 12 ;

and the requisite rate for the purposes of subsection (1)(a) and (b) above is a weekly rate not less than that amount.

(3) Regulations may provide that a beneficiary is not to be entitled to an increase of benefit under this section in respect of a wife or husband where the earnings of the wife or husband (calculated or estimated in the prescribed manner and on the prescribed basis) exceed the prescribed amount.

(4) Where the beneficiary is entitled to an unemployability supplement and is residing with his wife, and the earnings of his wife for the calendar week ending last before any week for which he is entitled to benefit under this section exceeded £20, the weekly rate of benefit under this section shall for the last-mentioned week be reduced—

(a) where the excess is less than £4, by 5 pence for each complete 10 pence of the excess ; and

(b) where the excess is not less than £4, by 5 pence for each complete 10 pence of the excess up to £4 and by 5 pence for each complete 5 pence of any further excess.

(5) With effect from such day as may be prescribed in the week containing 6th April in a year mentioned in the first column below, subsection (4) above shall have effect with the substitution for " £20 " of the amount specified in relation to that year in the second column below—

1976	£35
1977	£50.

(6) Regulations under subsection (3) above—

(a) shall not restrict the amount of benefit in a case within subsection (4);

(b) may, in a case within subsection (1)(d) in which the female person is residing with a beneficiary entitled to unemployability supplement, and fulfils such further conditions as may be prescribed, authorise an increase of benefit under this section, but subject to a reduction in respect of the female person's earnings, other than such of her earnings from employment by the beneficiary as may be prescribed, comparable to the reduction in subsection (4);

(c) may, in connection with any reduction of benefit in respect of earnings, prescribe the method of calculating or estimating the earnings.

(7) A beneficiary shall not be entitled to an increase of benefit under this section in respect of more than one person for the same period.

(8) In this section " relative " does not include any person who is a child.

Industrial death benefit

Widow's benefit (entitlement)

67

(1) The widow of the deceased shall be entitled to death benefit if at his death either—

(a) she was residing with him, or

(b) she was receiving or entitled to receive, or would but for the relevant accident have been receiving or entitled to receive, from him periodical payments for her maintenance of not less than the prescribed amount.

(2) In the case of a widow, death benefit shall be—

(a) a pension commencing from the death of the deceased and payable, at the weekly rate for the time being applicable under section 68 below, for life or until she remarries; and

(b) a gratuity, payable on the termination of the pension in consequence of her remarriage, of an amount equal to 52 times the weekly rate of the pension to which she was then entitled:

Provided that a pension under this section shall not be payable for any period during which the beneficiary is cohabiting with a man not her husband.

(3) In this section—

(a) references to a widow receiving or being entitled to receive payments from the deceased are only to her receiving or being entitled to receive (whether from him or from another) payments provided or procured by the deceased ; and

(b) " entitled " means, in relation to any such payments, entitled under any order of a court, trust or agreement which the widow has taken reasonable steps to enforce.

Widow's benefit (rate)

68

(1) The weekly rate of a pension payable under section 67 above shall, for the period of 26 weeks next following the deceased's death, be the initial rate specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 13(a).

(2) The weekly rate of the pension shall, after the end of that period, be the higher permanent rate specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 13(b)—

(a) for any period for which the widow is entitled, or is treated by regulations as entitled, to an allowance under section 70 below in respect of a child of the deceased's family; or

(b) where the widow was over the age of 50 at the deceased's death or was over the age of 40 at the end of the period for which she was entitled to such an allowance; or

(d) while the widow is pregnant by the deceased.

(3) After the end of the period of 26 weeks referred to in subsection (1) above, the weekly rate of the pension shall, in any case not within subsection (2), be the lower permanent rate specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 13(c).

Widower's benefit (entitlement and rate)

69

(1) The widower of the deceased shall be entitled to death benefit if at her death he—

(a) was being wholly or mainly maintained by her or would but for the relevant accident have been so maintained ; and

(b) was permanently incapable of self-support.

(2) In the case of a widower, death benefit shall be a pension at the weekly rate specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 14, commencing from the death of the deceased and payable for fife.

Children of deceased's family

70

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and Schedule 9 (limits on benefit payable on death), where at his death the deceased had a family which included a child or children, then, tor any period during which a person has a family which includes that child or one or more of those children, the person shall be entitled in respect of that child, or in respect of each respectively of those children, to death benefit by way of an allowance at the appropriate weekly rate specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph (15).

(2) The higher rate specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 15(a) shall apply where the person to whom the allowance is payable is the widow of the deceased or such other person as may be prescribed and the widow is entitled to death benefit (other than a gratuity) under sections 67 and 68 of this Act; and the lower rate specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 15(b) shall apply in any other case.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, where the deceased was a man, any of the following are to be treated under this section as having been children of his family at his death—

(a) a legitimate son or daughter of his who—

(i) at his death was a child of his wife's, but not of his, family ; or

(ii) is born to him posthumously ;

(b) an illegitimate son or daughter of him and any woman residing with him at his death, being a son or daughter who then was a child of her family and was being, or would but for the relevant accident have been, wholly or mainly maintained by him ;

(c) a child who at the deceased's death was a child of some other person's family but could have been treated under paragraph 3 of the Schedule to the Family Allowances Act as a child of the deceased's family;

(d) subject to such exceptions and conditions as may be prescribed, a child who, having at the death of a previous husband of the wife by a marriage which ended with that husband's death been a child of that husband's family, was at the deceased's death a child of the wife's family.

(4) Subsections (1) to (3) of section 65 of this Act apply in relation to an allowance under subsection (1) above as they apply in relation to an increase of benefit under section 64.

Parents

71

(1) A parent of the deceased shall be entitled to death benefit if at the deceased's death he or she was being to a substantial extent maintained by the deceased, or would but for the relevant accident have been so maintained.

(2) In the case of a parent who, at the deceased's death, was being wholly or mainly maintained by the deceased, or would but for the relevant accident have been so maintained, death benefit shall be a pension commencing from the death of the deceased and, subject to subsection (3) below, payable for life.

(3) A pension payable under subsection (2) above to the deceased's mother—

(a) shall terminate on her remarriage or marriage ; and

(b) shall not be payable for any period during which she is cohabiting with a man not her husband,

unless the man whom she marries or, as the case may be, with whom she is cohabiting is a man with whom she was cohabiting immediately before the deceased's death.

(4) In the case of a parent entitled to death benefit under subsection (1) above but not to a pension under subsection (2), death benefit shall be a gratuity payable, if and in such cases as regulations so provide, by instalments.

(5) Subject to section 74 of this Act—

(a) the weekly rate of a pension payable to a parent under subsection (2) above shall be 75 pence for any period during which the parents are living together and are both entitled to such a pension (whether in respect of the same or another death), and £1 for any other period;

(b) the amount of a gratuity payable to a parent under subsection (4) shall be £52, subject to the provisions of Schedule 9 limiting the benefit payable in respect of any death.

(6) In this section, "parent" includes a step-parent and a parent by adoption and, in a case where the deceased was illegitimate, his mother; and "mother" shall be construed accordingly.

Relatives

72

(1) Subject to Schedule 9, any such relative of the deceased as may be prescribed shall be entitled to death benefit if at the deceased's death—

(a) the relative was being wholly or mainly maintained by the deceased or would but for the relevant accident have been so maintained; or

(b) the relative was being to a substantial extent maintained by the deceased, or would but for the relevant accident have been so maintained, and—

(i) in the case of a man, was permanently incapable of self-support;

(ii) in the case of a woman, was herself permanently incapable of self-support or was living with her husband who was permanently so incapable.

(2) Subject to Schedule 9 and section 74(1)(a), in the case of a relative entitled to death benefit under subsection (1) above, the benefit shall be a pension at the weekly rate of £1 if—

(a) the relative fulfils the condition specified in subsection (1)(a) above; and

(b) the relative or, in the ease of a married woman living with her husband, she or her husband was at the deceased's death permanently incapable of self-support.

(3) The pension shall commence from the deceased's death and, subject to subsection (4) below, be payable for such period as may be determined at the time it is granted, but may, if the beneficiary or her husband (as the case may be) continues to be permanently incapable of self-support or, in the husband's case, has died during the continuance of that incapacity, be renewed from time to time.

(4) The pension shall cease on the death of the beneficiary within the period for which it was granted and, in the case of a woman—

(a) shall not be payable for any period during which the beneficiary is cohabiting with a man not her husband ; and

(b) shall cease oh her marriage or remarriage within the period for which it was granted or, where it was granted by virtue of her husband's incapacity, on the termination of their marriage otherwise than by his death or on their ceasing to live together within that period, and shall not thereafter be renewed.

(5) Subject to Schedule 9 and section 74(1)(b), in the case of a relative entitled to death benefit under subsection (1) above but not to a pension under subsection (2), the benefit shall be—

(a) if the relative fulfils the condition specified in subsection (1)(b) but not the condition specified in subsection (1)(a), a gratuity of £52 payable, if and in such cases as regulations so provide, by instalments; and

(b) if the relative fulfils the condition specified in subsection (1)(a), an allowance at the weekly rate of £1.80, commencing from the deceased's death and payable for 13 weeks from that death or, if the beneficiary dies within those 13 weeks, until the beneficiary's death.

(6) In this section "relative" does not include a husband or wife, or a parent within the meaning of section 71 above.

(7) Notwithstanding subsections (1) to (6) above, a relative who was a child at the deceased's death shall not be entitled to benefit thereunder—

(a) until he ceases to be a child ; or

(b) unless he was at the deceased's death, and is on ceasing to be a child, permanently incapable of self-support;

and a pension payable to such a relative under this section shall commence only from the date on which he ceases to be a child.

(8) Where the deceased was a man, this section applies to a posthumous son or daughter of his (whether legitimate or illegitimate) subject to such modifications as may be prescribed.

Woman having care of deceased's children

73

(1) Subject to Schedule 9, where at the date of the relevant accident and throughout the period between that date and his death—

(a) the deceased had a family which included a child or children; and

(b) a female person (not a child) was residing with the deceased and had the care of the child or one or more of the children,

she shall be entitled to death benefit if she was being wholly or mainly maintained by the deceased at that date and was, or would but for the accident have been, so maintained throughout that period.

(2) Where the deceased was a man, any illegitimate son or daughter of him and the female person above referred to shall be treated under this section as having been a child of the deceased's family during any part of that period (between the date of the relevant accident and the deceased's death) during which he or she—

(a) was a child of the female person's family ; and

(b) was, or would but for the relevant accident have been, wholly or mainly maintained by the deceased.

(3) Subject to section 85 below (overlapping benefits), benefit under this section shall be an allowance at the weekly rate of £1 commencing from the death of the deceased and payable for any period during which the beneficiary has the care of the child or one or more of the children:

Provided that the allowance—

(a) shall cease to be payable upon the marriage or remarriage of the beneficiary ; and

(b) shall not be payable for any period during which the beneficiary is cohabiting with a man not her husband.

Beneficiary previously maintained by deceased

74

(1) In the case of industrial death benefit, where the deceased at his death was, or would but for the relevant accident have been, making contributions to the beneficiary's maintenance—

(a) the weekly rate of any pension payable to the beneficiary—

(i) as a parent (within the meaning of section 71 above), or

(ii) as a relative prescribed for the purposes of section 72,

shall not exceed the weekly rate of the contributions which the deceased was (or would but for the relevant accident have been) making; and

(b) the amount of any gratuity payable to the beneficiary as such a parent or relative shall not exceed such multiple of the weekly rate of those contributions as may be determined by or in accordance with regulations ;

but this does not apply where the deceased at his death was (or would but for the relevant accident have been) wholly maintaining the beneficiary.

(2) In the case of a relative who—

(a) was at the deceased's death a child, or

(b) is a posthumous son or daughter of the deceased,

references in subsection (1) above to the weekly rate of the deceased's contributions are to that of the contributions which he might have been expected to make to the relative's maintenance when he ceased to be a child.

Death of person with constant attendance allowance

75

(1) If a person dies at a time when—

(a) he is entitled to an increase under section 61 above of a disablement pension and the amount of the increase is not less than the amount which at that time is specified in Schedule 4, Part V, paragraph 7(a); or

(b) he would have been so entitled but for having received medical or other treatment as an in-patient in a hospital or similar institution,

he is to be regarded for the purposes of entitlement to industrial death benefit as having died as a result of the injury in respect of which the disablement pension was payable.

(2) The reference in subsection (1) above to an increase under section 61 includes only a payment by way of increase of a disablement pension, and in particular does not include any payment for constant attendance under section 150(3)(b) below (payments for pre-1948 cases).

(3) Subsection (1) above does not affect death benefit where the death occurred before 26th July 1971.

CHAPTER V — Industrial Diseases, and Injuries not within Chapter IV

Benefit in respect of industrial disease, etc.

76

(1) Subject to and in accordance with this section and sections 77 and 78 below, there shall be payable, in respect of a person who has been in employed earner's employment for the purposes of Chapter IV above, such benefits as are there provided in respect of any prescribed disease or personal injury (but not an injury caused by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment), being a disease or injury due to the nature of that employment and developed after 4th July 1948.

(2) A disease or injury may be prescribed in relation to any employed earners if the Department 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 but not before 5th July 1948) shall be treated, subject to any prescribed modifications of this Chapter, 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) Nothing in this Chapter affects the right of any person to benefit in respect of a disease which is a personal injury by accident within the meaning of Chapter IV, 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.

General provisions as to benefit under s. 76

77

(1) Subject to the power to make different provision by regulations, and to the following provisions of this Chapter, the benefit payable under section 76 above in respect of a prescribed disease or injury, and 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 provisions of this Act relating to injury benefit and disablement benefit, and the administration of such benefit; and

(b) for adapting references in this Act to accidents.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2) above, regulations thereunder 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 Department to be incidental to or consequential on provisions included in the regulations by virtue of subsection (2) and paragraph (a) above.

Respiratory diseases

78

(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 Chapter 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.

CHAPTER VI — Administration of Benefit

Provisions relating to benefit under Chapters I to V

Claims and awards

79

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Chapter, and, in the case of retirement pensions, to section 27(6), it shall be a condition of a person's right to any benefit that he makes a claim for it in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time.

(2) In such cases as may be prescribed, the following benefits may be paid without a claim—

(a) a Category A or Category B retirement pension to a woman over the age of 65 on her ceasing to be entitled to widow's benefit;

(b) a Category C or Category D retirement pension;

(3) Regulations may make provision—

(a) for permitting, in prescribed circumstances, a claim for unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, invalidity benefit, non-contributory invalidity pension or injury benefit to be made, or to be treated as if made, for a period falling partly after the date of the claim ;

(b) for permitting an award on any such claim to be made for a period after the date of the claim of not more than 13 weeks (or such shorter period as the Department may in any case direct) subject to the condition that the claimant continues during that period to satisfy the requirements for the benefit in question;

(c) for the review of any such award if those requirements are found not to have been satisfied at some time during the period of the award;

(d) for the disallowance of a person's claim for unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, invalidity benefit or non-contributory invalidity pension on any grounds to be treated as a disallowance of any further claim by that person for that benefit until the grounds of the original disallowance have ceased to exist.

(4) Regulations may provide for treating a person for the purposes of the following provisions of this Act—

(a) section 14(7) (earnings-related supplement of unemployment or sickness benefit);

(b) section 18 (duration of unemployment benefit); and

as having been entitled to benefit for any day if he would have been so entitled but for any delay or failure to make or prosecute a claim ; but a person is not to be so treated where he shows that he did not intend, by failing to acquire or establish a right to benefit for that day, to cause a new period of interruption of employment to begin for the purposes of earnings-related supplement, or to avoid the necessity of re-qualifying for benefit.

(5) Regulations may provide for requiring claimants to furnish to the prescribed person any information required for the determination of the claim or of any question arising in connection with it.

(6) For the purposes of this Act any claim or notice made or sent by post shall be deemed to have been made or given on the day on which it was posted.

Claims in the alternative

80

(1) A claim for any one benefit under Chapters I to III of this Part may be treated as a claim in the alternative—

(a) for such other benefit under those Chapters as may be prescribed; or

(b) for such benefit under Chapter IV or V as may be prescribed,

or may be treated for the purposes of the Family Allowances Act as a claim for a payment under that Act.

(2) A claim—

(a) for industrial injuries benefit; or

(b) for benefit under the Supplementary Benefits &c. Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 ; or

may be treated as a claim in the alternative for such benefit under Chapters I to III as may be prescribed.

Payment

81

(1) Provision may be made by regulations as to the time and manner of payment of benefit and as to the information and evidence to be furnished by beneficiaries when applying for payment.

(2) Regulations under subsection (1) above as to the time of payment of benefit may provide—

(a) for adjusting the commencement and termination of benefit, or of changes in the rate of benefit, so that (except in the case of the benefits listed in subsection (3) below) payments are not to be made in respect of periods of less than a week or at different rates for different parts of a week

(b) for extinguishing the right to payment of any sum by way of benefit if payment is not obtained within a prescribed period, not being less than 12 months, from the date on which the right is to be treated under the regulations as having arisen.

(3) The benefits excepted from subsection (2)(a) above are—

unemployment benefit,

sickness benefit,

invalidity benefit,

a maternity allowance,

and injury benefit.

(4) Regulations may provide—

(a) for requiring beneficiaries—

(i) to furnish to the prescribed person any information required for the determination of a question arising in connection with the award,

(ii) to give notice to the prescribed person of any change of circumstances affecting the continuance of the right to benefit or its receipt;

(b) for enabling a person to be appointed to exercise, on behalf of a claimant or beneficiary who is a child or who may be or become unable for the time being to act, any right or power which the claimant or beneficiary may be entitled to exercise under this Act;

(c) for authorising a person so appointed to receive and deal with any sum payable by way of benefit, on behalf of the claimant or beneficiary ;

(d) as to the circumstances in which any benefit which is payable to one person may be paid to another on his behalf; and

(e) in connection with a person's death—

(i) for enabling a claim for benefit to be made or proceeded with in his name,

(ii) for authorising payment or distribution of benefit to or amongst persons claiming as his personal representatives, legatees, next of kin or creditors (or, in cases of illegitimacy of deceased persons, to or amongst others), and

(iii) for dispensing with strict proof of the title of persons so claiming.

(5) In subsection (4)(e) above "next of kin" means the persons who would take beneficially on an intestacy under the provisions of Part II of the Administration of Estates Act (Northern Ireland) 1955, and regulations under that paragraph may make provision with respect to claims for, and the payment of, a death grant as if it were a benefit due to the deceased at his death and as if the reference to creditors included a person who undertakes in writing to pay the whole or part of the deceased's funeral expenses.

(6) Regulations may make provision for calculating the amounts payable by way of any benefit according to a prescribed scale, or otherwise adjusting them so as to avoid fractional amounts or facilitate computation.

Disqualification and suspension

82

(1) Regulations may provide for disqualifying a person for the receipt of any benefit if he fails to make his claim for it within the prescribed time; but any such regulations shall provide for extending, subject to any prescribed conditions, the time within which the claim may be made in cases where good cause is shown for the delay.

(2) Notwithstanding any regulations made by virtue of subsection (1) above, no sum shall be paid to any person—

(a) on account of a maternity grant in respect of a confinement occurring more than 12 months before the date on which the claim for the grant is made ;

(b) on account of a death grant in any case where the prescribed time for making a claim falls to be extended by virtue of subsection (1) above by more than 12 months;

(c) on account of any other benefit (except a death grant, or disablement benefit or industrial death benefit) in respect of any period more than 12 months before the date on which the claim is made.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, where it appears to the Department that a question has arisen whether—

(a) the conditions for the receipt of benefit payable under an award are or were fulfilled ; or

(b) an award ought to be revised in accordance with Part III of this Act (determination of claims and questions),

it may direct that payment of the benefit shall be suspended in whole or in part until that question has been determined; but this does not apply in any case where the question has arisen as to whether the claimant has ceased to be entitled to receive unemployment benefit by reason of any of the provisions of section 20(1)(b) to (e).

(4) Regulations may provide for subsection (3) above—

(a) to cease to apply to any case, or to cases of any specified description, to which it would otherwise apply; or

(b) to apply to cases of any specified description to which it would otherwise not apply.

(5) Except where regulations otherwise provide, a person shall be disqualified for receiving any benefit, and an increase of benefit shall not be payable in respect of any person as the beneficiary's wife or husband, for any period during which the person—

(a) is absent from Northern Ireland; or

(b) is undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody.

(6) Regulations may provide—

(a) for the suspension of payment to or in respect of any person, during any such period, of benefit which is excepted from the operation of subsection (5) above or is payable otherwise than in respect of that period;

(b) for suspending payment of 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.

Disqualifications disregarded for certain purposes

83

(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, regulations may provide for a person who would be entitled to any benefit but for the operation of any provision of this Act disentitling him to receipt of that benefit to be treated as if entitled thereto for the purposes of any rights or obligations (whether his own or another's) under this Act which depend on his entitlement, other than the right to payment of the benefit.

(2) Regulations under this section shall not provide for a person disqualified for receiving unemployment benefit by reason only of a delay or failure to make a claim to be treated as having been entitled thereto for the purpose of ascertaining whether his right to the benefit has been exhausted.

Persons maintaining dependants, etc.

84

(1) Regulations may provide for determining the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be deemed, for the purposes of this Part 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.

(2) Regulations under this section may provide, for the purposes of the provisions relating to an increase of benefit in respect of a wife 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 deemed to be wholly or mainly maintained by such of those beneficiaries as may be prescribed.

(3) Regulations under this section may further provide, for the purposes of sections 71 and 72 of this Act, that where—

(a) a person was partly maintained by each of two or more employed earners of whom he was a parent within the meaning of section 71 or a relative prescribed for the purposes of section 72, as the case may be; and

(b) the employed earners have died as a result of accidents arising out of and in the course of their employed earner's employment,

the parent or relative is to be treated as having received, from such of those employed earners as may be prescribed, contributions to his maintenance equal to the aggregate amount which they were together contributing before the accidents happened, and as having received nothing from the others.

(4) 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 wife ; and

(b) the cost of providing for one or more children,

to be treated for the purposes of any of the provisions of this Act specified in subsection (5) 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 dependants.

(5) The provisions in question are—

(a) section 31 (child's special allowance);

(b) sections 42, 43 and 65 (dependent children); and

Overlapping benefits

85

(1) Regulations may provide for adjusting benefit payable to or in respect of any person, or the conditions for its receipt, where—

(a) there is payable in his case any such pension or allowance as is described in subsection (2) below; or

(b) the person is, or is treated under the regulations as, undergoing medical or other treatment as an in-patient in a hospital or similar institution.

(2) Subsection (1)(a) above applies to any pension or allowance payable out of public funds (excluding an allowance under the Family Allowances Act, but including any other benefit under this Act, whether of the same or a different description) which is payable to or in respect of—

(a) the person referred to in subsection (1);

(b) that person's wife or husband ;

(d) the wife or husband of any adult dependant of that person.

(3) Where but for regulations made by virtue of subsection (1)(a) above two persons would both be entitled to an increase of benefit in respect of a third person, regulations may make provision as to their priority.

Set-off of overpayments

86

(1) Where a person has received on account of benefit or a family allowance sums to which, by virtue of any provision of, or regulation under, this Act, or by virtue of section 11(5) of the Family Allowances Act, he was disentitled by reason of his being entitled by virtue of a subsequent award to other benefit, or, as the case may be, to a guardian's allowance under section 38 of this Act, then (except in so far as regulations otherwise provide) the decision making that subsequent award shall direct that those sums shall be treated as having been paid on account of the benefit thereby awarded.

(2) Where on review or appeal a decision awarding a person benefit is revised, or is reversed or varied, but he retains any sums paid in pursuance of the original decision which would not have been payable if the decision on the review or appeal had been given in the first instance, then, except in so far as regulations otherwise provide, any decision awarding him other benefit or a family allowance, being a benefit or allowance to which a right to any of those sums would by virtue of any such provision as aforesaid or of the said section 11(5) have disentitled him, shall direct that mat sum, up to the amount of the other benefit or allowance to which he would by his right to that sum have been so disentitled, shall be treated as having been paid on account of the other benefit or allowance.

(3) Where a sum paid on account of any benefit, or of a family allowance, is by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) above, or any other enactment, to be treated as having been paid on account of other benefit or such an allowance, it shall be so treated for all purposes, including the subsequent operation in relation to it of subsection (1) or (2) or any other enactment relating to benefit or family allowance overpaid.

(4) For the purposes of subsections (1) to (3) above—

(a) a person is to be treated as retaining any sum which has been received by him and not repaid, except that he is not to be treated as retaining a sum if under any other enactment a direction has been given for it to be repaid;

(b) in the case of sums paid by way of benefit in respect of a child of the family of a man and his wife living together or on account of a family allowance for such a family, the man is to be treated as having received any sum which, if properly paid, would have been receivable by him, and the wife any sum which, if properly paid, would have been receivable by her.

(5) Regulations may provide for treating benefit paid to one person in respect of another as being a child of the family, or the wife or husband, or an adult dependant, of the payee as having been properly paid for any period for which it is not in fact payable in cases where in consequence of a subsequent decision either—

(a) the other person is himself entitled to benefit for that period; or

(b) a third person is entitled to benefit for that period in respect of the other person in priority to the payee,

and for reducing or withholding accordingly any arrears payable for that period by virtue of the subsequent decision.

(6) In subsections (1) and (2) above any reference to a decision awarding benefit or a family allowance includes a decision making any benefit or family allowance payable at a higher rate.

Benefit to be inalienable

87

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, every assignment of, or charge on, benefit and every agreement to assign or charge benefit shall be void; and, on the bankruptcy of a beneficiary, the benefit shall not pass to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of his creditors.

(2) The reference in subsection (1) above to the bankruptcy of a beneficiary shall include a reference to the vesting of his estate and effects in the official assignee under section 349 of the Irish Bankrupt and Insolvent Act 1857.

(3) In calculating for the purposes of section 31, 73(3)(b) or 88 of the Judgments (Enforcement) Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 the means of any beneficiary, no account shall be taken of any increase of injury benefit or disablement benefit in respect of a child, or of industrial death benefit.

Provisions relating to industrial injuries benefit only

Notification of accidents, etc.

88

Regulations may provide—

(a) for requiring the prescribed notice of an accident in respect of which industrial injuries benefit may be payable to be given within the prescribed time by the employed earner or, where within that time he dies as a result of the accident, by such other person as may be prescribed, to the earner's employer or other prescribed person;

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