The Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations 1992

Made: 20th July 1992

Coming into force: 5th April 1993

Whereas a draft of this instrument was laid before Parliament in accordance with section 52(2) of the Child Support Act 1991 and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament:

Now, therefore, the Secretary of State for Social Security, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 3(3), 5(3), 6(1), 12, 16, 17, 18, 42(3), 46(11), 51, 52(4), 54 and 55 of, and paragraphs 11, 14 and 16 of Schedule 1 to, the Child Support Act 1991 and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf hereby makes the following Regulations:

PART I — GENERAL

Citation, commencement and interpretation

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations 1992 and shall come into force on 5th April 1993.

• (2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

“the Act” means the Child Support Act 1991;

“applicable amount”, except in regulation 40ZA, is to be construed in accordance with Part IV of the Income Support Regulations;

“applicable amounts Schedule” means Schedule 2 to the Income Support Regulations ;

“award period” means a period in respect of which an award of family credit or disability working allowance is made;

“balance of the reduction period” means, in relation to a direction that is or has been in force, the portion of the period specified in a direction in respect of which no reduction of relevant benefit has been made;

“benefit week”, in relation to income support, has the same meaning as in the Income Support Regulations, in relation to jobseeker’s allowance has the same meaning as in the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations, in relation to employment and support allowance has the same meaning as in the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008, and, in relation to family credit and disability working allowance, is to be construed in accordance with the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 ;

“designated authority” means—

• (a) the Secretary of State;

• (b) a person providing services to the Secretary of State;

• (c) a local authority;

• (d) a person providing services to, or authorised to exercise any functions of, any such authority;

...

“disability working allowance” means an award of disability working allowance under section 129 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 which was awarded with effect from a date falling before 5th October 1999;

“day to day care” has the same meaning as in the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations;

“effective application” means any application that complies with the provisions of regulation 2;

“effective date” means the date on which a maintenance assessment takes effect for the purposes of the Act;

“family” has the same meaning as in the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations;

“family credit” means an award of family credit under section 128 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 which was awarded with effect from a date falling before 5th October 1999;

“income-related employment and support allowance” means an income-related allowance under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007;

“Income Support Regulations” means the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 ;

“Information, Evidence and Disclosure Regulations” means the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations 1992 ;

“the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations" means the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996;

“Maintenance Arrangements and Jurisdiction Regulations” means the Child Support (Maintenance Arrangements and Jurisdiction) Regulations 1992;

“Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations” means the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992 ;

“maintenance period” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 33;

“obligation imposed by section 6 of the Act” is to be construed in accordance with section 46(1) of the Act;

“official error" means an error made by–

• (a) an officer of the Department of Social Security acting as such which no person outside that Department caused or to which no person outside that Department materially contributed;

• (b) a person employed by a designated authority acting on behalf of the authority, which no person outside that authority caused or to which no person outside that authority materially contributed,

but excludes any error of law which is only shown to have been an error by virtue of a subsequent decision of the Upper Tribunal or the court;

“parent with care” means a person who, in respect of the same child or children, is both a parent and a person with care;

“the parent concerned” means the parent with respect to whom a direction is given;

“partner” has the same meaning as in the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations;

“protected income level” has the same meaning as in paragraph 6(6) of Schedule 1 to the Act;

“relevant benefit” means income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance or an award of family credit or disability working allowance which was awarded with effect from a date falling before 5th October 1999;

“relevant person” means—

• (a) a person with care;

• (b) an absent parent;

• (c) a parent who is treated as an absent parent under regulation 20 of the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations;

• (d) where the application for an assessment is made by a child under section 7 of the Act, that child,

in respect of whom a maintenance assessment has been applied for or is or has been in force;

“universal credit” means universal credit under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) The provisions of Schedule 1 shall have effect to supplement the meaning of “child” in section 55 of the Act.

• (5) The provisions of these Regulations shall have general application to cases prescribed in regulations 19 to 26 of the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations as cases to be treated as special cases for the purposes of the Act, and the terms “absent parent” and “person with care” shall be construed accordingly.

• (6) Except where express provision is made to the contrary, where, by any provision of the Act or of these Regulations—

• (a) any document is given or sent to the Secretary of State, that document shall, subject to paragraph (7), be treated as having been so given or sent on the day it is received by the Secretary of State; and

• (b) any document is given or sent to any other person, that document shall, if sent by post to that person’s last known or notified address, and subject to paragraph (8), be treated as having been given or sent on the second day after the day of posting, excluding any Sunday or any day which is a bank holiday in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 .

• (7) Except where the provisions of regulation 9(1) or 18(4) apply, the Secretary of State may treat a document given or sent to him as given or sent on such day, earlier than the day it was received by him, as he may determine, if he is satisfied that there was unavoidable delay in his receiving the document in question.

• (8) Where, by any provision of the Act or of these Regulations, and in relation to a particular application, notice or notification—

• (a) more than one document is required to be given or sent to a person, and more than one such document is sent by post to that person but not all the documents are posted on the same day; or

• (b) documents are required to be given or sent to more than one person, and not all such documents are posted on the same day,

all those documents shall be treated as having been posted on the later or, as the case may be, the latest day of posting.

• (9) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference—

• (a) to a numbered Part is to the Part of these Regulations bearing that number;

• (b) to a numbered Schedule is to the Schedule to these Regulations bearing that number;

• (c) to a numbered regulation is to the regulation in these Regulations bearing that number;

• (d) in a regulation or Schedule to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph in that regulation or Schedule bearing that number;

• (e) in a paragraph to a lettered or numbered sub-paragraph is to the sub-paragraph in that paragraph bearing that letter or number.

PART II — APPLICATIONS FOR A MAINTENANCE ASSESSMENT

Applications under section 4, 6 or 7 of the Act

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• (1) Any person who applies for a maintenance assessment under section 4 or 7 of the Act shall do so on a form (a “maintenance application form”) provided by the Secretary of State.

• (2) Maintenance application forms provided by the Secretary of State ... under paragraph (1) shall be supplied without charge by such persons as the Secretary of State appoints or authorises for that purpose.

• (3) A completed maintenance application form shall be given or sent to the Secretary of State.

• (4) Subject to paragraph (5), an application for a maintenance assessment under the Act shall be an effective application if it is made on a maintenance application form and that form has been completed in accordance with the Secretary of State’s instructions.

• (5) Where an application is not effective under the provisions of paragraph (4), the Secretary of State may—

• (a) give or send the maintenance application form to the person who made the application, together, if he thinks appropriate, with a fresh maintenance application form, and request that the application be re-submitted so as to comply with the provisions of that paragraph; or

• (b) request the person who made the application to provide such additional information or evidence as the Secretary of State specifies,

and if a completed application form or, as the case may be, the additional information or evidence requested is received by the Secretary of State within 14 days of the date of his request, he shall treat the application as made on the date on which the earlier or earliest application would have been treated as made had it been effective under the provisions of paragraph (4).

• (6) Subject to paragraph (7), a person who has made an effective application may amend his application by notice in writing to the Secretary of State at any time before a maintenance assessment is made.

• (7) No amendment under paragraph (6) shall relate to any change of circumstances arising after the effective date of a maintenance assessment resulting from an effective application.

Applications on the termination of a maintenance assessment

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• (1) Where a maintenance assessment has been in force with respect to a person with care and a qualifying child and that person is replaced by another person with care, an application for a maintenance assessment with respect to that person with care and that qualifying child may for the purposes of regulation 30(2)(b)(ii) and subject to paragraph (3) be treated as having been received on a date earlier than that on which it was received.

• (2) Where a maintenance assessment has been made in response to an application by a child under section 7 of the Act and either—

• (a) the Secretary of State cancels that assessment following a request from that child; or

• (b) that child ceases to be a child for the purposes of the Act,

any application for a maintenance assessment with respect to any other children who were qualifying children with respect to the earlier maintenance assessment may for the purposes of regulation 30(2)(b)(ii) and subject to paragraph (3) be treated as having been received on a date earlier than that on which it was received.

• (3) No application for a maintenance assessment shall be treated as having been received under paragraph (1) or (2) on a date—

• (a) more than 8 weeks earlier than the date on which the application was received; or

• (b) on or before the first day of the maintenance period in which the earlier maintenance assessment ceased to have effect.

Multiple applications

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• (1) The provisions of Schedule 2 shall apply in cases where there is more than one application for a maintenance assessment.

• (2) The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule 2 relating to the treatment of two or more applications as a single application shall apply where no request is received for the Secretary of State to cease acting in relation to all but one of the applications.

• (3) Where, under the provisions of paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of Schedule 2, two or more applications are to be treated as a single application, that application shall be treated as an application for a maintenance assessment to be made with respect to all of the qualifying children mentioned in the applications, and the effective date of that assessment shall be determined by reference to the earlier or earliest application.

Notice to other persons of an application for a maintenance assessment

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• (1) Subject to paragraph (2A), where an effective application for a maintenance assessment has been made the Secretary of State shall as soon as is reasonably practicable give notice in writing of that application to the relevant persons other than the applicant.

• (2) The Secretary of State shall, subject to paragraph (2A), give or send to any person to whom notice has been given under paragraph (1) a form (a “maintenance enquiry form”) and a written request that the form be completed and returned to him for the purpose of enabling the application for the maintenance assessment to be proceeded with.

• (2A) The provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not apply where the Secretary of State is satisfied that an application for a maintenance assessment can be dealt with in the absence of a completed and returned maintenance enquiry form.

• (3) Where the person to whom notice is being given under paragraph (1) is an absent parent, that notice shall specify the effective date of the maintenance assessment if one is to be made, and set out in general terms the provisions relating to interim maintenance assessments.

Response to notification of an application for a maintenance assessment

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• (1) Any person who has received a maintenance enquiry form given or sent under regulation 5(2) shall complete that form in accordance with the Secretary of State’s instructions and return it to the Secretary of State within 14 days of its having been given or sent.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (3), a person who has returned a completed maintenance enquiry form may amend the information he has provided on that form at any time before a maintenance assessment is made by notifying the Secretary of State in writing of the amendments.

• (3) No amendment under paragraph (2) shall relate to any change of circumstances arising after the effective date of any maintenance assessment made in response to the application in relation to which the maintenance enquiry form was given or sent.

Death of a qualifying child

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• (1) Where the Secretary of State is informed of the death of a qualifying child with respect to whom an application for a maintenance assessment has been made, he shall—

• (a) proceed with the application as if it had not been made with respect to that child if he has not yet made an assessment;

• (b) treat any assessment already made by him as not having been made if the relevant persons have not been notified of it and proceed with the application as if it had not been made with respect to that child.

• (2) Where all of the qualifying children with respect to whom an application for a maintenance assessment has been made have died, and either the assessment has not been made or the relevant persons have not been notified of it, the Secretary of State shall treat the application as not having being made.

PART III — INTERIM MAINTENANCE ASSESSMENTS

Amount and duration of an interim maintenance assessment

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• (1) Where the Secretary of State serves notice under section 12(4) of the Act of his intention to make an interim maintenance assessment, he shall not make that interim assessment before the end of a period of 14 days, commencing with the date that notice was given or sent.

• (2) There shall be four categories of interim maintenance assessment, Category A, Category B, Category C, and Category D interim maintenance assessments.

• (3) An interim maintenance assessment made by the Secretary of State shall be—

• (a) a Category A interim maintenance assessment, where any information, other than information referred to in sub-paragraph (b), that is required by him to enable him to make an assessment in accordance with the provisions of Part I of Schedule 1 to the Act has not been provided by that absent parent, and that parent has that information in his possession or can reasonably be expected to acquire it;

• (b) a Category B interim maintenance assessment, where the information that is required by him as to the income of the partner or other member of the family of the absent parent or parent with care for the purposes of the calculation of the income of that partner or other member of the family under regulation 9(2), 10, 11(2) or 12(1) of the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations—

• (i) has not been provided by that partner or other member of the family, and that partner or other member of the family has that information in his possession or can reasonably be expected to acquire it; or

• (ii) has been provided by that partner or other member of the family to the absent parent or parent with care, but the absent parent or parent with care has not provided it to the Secretary of State ...;

• (c) a Category C interim maintenance assessment where—

• (i) the absent parent is a self-employed earner as defined in regulation 1(2) of the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations; and

• (ii) the absent parent is currently unable to provide, but has indicated that he expects within a reasonable time to be able to provide, information to enable the Secretary of State to determine the earnings of that absent parent in accordance with paragraphs 3 to 5 of Schedule 1 to the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations; and