Commentary on Sections Part 3: Other benefit changes Section 70: Ending of discretionary payments
346.Section 70(1) repeals section 138(1)(b) of the SSCBA 1992, which provides for payments of crisis loans, community care grants and budgeting loans from the discretionary social fund. Community care grants and crisis loans other than those currently available to applicants pending payment of benefit (“alignment loans”) will cease. Instead, in England, new locally-administered assistance will be provided by local authorities. In Scotland and Wales the Devolved Administrations will decide the most appropriate arrangements for assistance. Budgeting loans and alignment loans will be replaced by payments on account (see section 101).
347.The Social Fund Commissioner heads the Independent Review Service (IRS) whose inspectors carry out independent reviews of decisions on applications for discretionary social fund payments. The Commissioner and the IRS will no longer have this role when section 138(1)(b) is repealed and subsection (2) makes provision for the abolition of the office of the Commissioner. Subsections (6) and (7) enable the Secretary of State to make provision by order for the transfer of property, rights and liabilities from the Social Fund Commissioner.
348.Subsections (3) to (5) make provision for the transfer of monies from the social fund into the Consolidated Fund as the social fund is wound down. The Secretary of State will be able to transfer unused social fund monies into the Consolidated Fund, as well as monies received into the social fund as repayments of loans or repayment of overpayments of social fund payments. Under subsection (5) the Secretary of State will continue to be able to re-allocate for crisis loans, community care grants or budgeting loans purposes any amounts which had previously been allocated for other payments under section 138(1)(b).
349.Subsection (9) introduces Schedule 8 which makes consequential amendments resulting from the repeal of section 138(1)(b), including in paragraph 3 providing for recovery of Northern Ireland payments to continue by deduction from benefits. Paragraph 4 makes consequential amendments as a result of the abolition of discretionary social fund payments and the ending of the office of the Social Fund Commissioner to ensure that the Social Fund Commissioner and other former officers remain subject to the penalty for disclosure despite the office having ceased to exist.