Section 78 | Recovery of social fund awards

(1)A social fund award which is repayable shall be recoverable by the Secretary of State.

(2)Without prejudice to any other method of recovery, the Secretary of State may recover an award by deduction from prescribed benefits.

(3)The Secretary of State may recover an award—

(a)from the person to or for the benefit of whom it was made;

(b)where that person is a member of a couple, from the other member of the couple;^F1

(c)from a person who is liable to maintain the person by or on behalf of whom the application for the award was made or any person in relation to whose needs the award was made.

(3A)Where—^F2

(a)a jobseeker's allowance is payable to a person from whom an award is recoverable under subsection (3) above; and^F2

(b)that person is subject to a bankruptcy order,^F2

a sum deducted from that benefit under subsection (2) above shall not be treated as income of his for the purposes of the Insolvency Act 1986.

(3B)Where—^F2F3

(a)a jobseeker's allowance is payable to a person from whom an award is recoverable under subsection (3) above; and^F2

(b)the estate of that person is sequestrated,^F2

a sum deducted from that benefit under subsection (2) above shall not be treated as income of his for the purposes of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016.

(3C)Regulations may provide for amounts recoverable under subsection (1) above from a person specified in subsection (3) above to be recovered by deductions from earnings.^F4

(3D)In subsection (3C) above “earnings” has such meaning as may be prescribed.^F4

(3E)Regulations under subsection (3C) above may include provision referred to in section 71(9C) above.^F4

(4)Payments out of the social fund to meet funeral expenses may in all cases be recovered, as if they were funeral expenses, out of the estate of the deceased, and (subject to section 71 above) by no other means.^F5

(5)In this section “couple” has the meaning given by section 137(1) of the Contributions and Benefits Act.^F6

(6)For the purposes of this section—

(a)a man shall be liable to maintain his wife or civil partner and any children of whom he is the father;^F7

(b)a woman shall be liable to maintain her husband or civil partner and any children of whom she is the mother;^F8

(c)a person shall be liable to maintain another person throughout any period in respect of which the first-mentioned person has, on or after 23rd May 1980 (the date of the passing of the Social Security Act 1980) and either alone or jointly with a further person, given an undertaking in writing in pursuance of immigration rules within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971 to be responsible for the maintenance and accommodation of the other person; and

(d)“child” includes a person who has attained the age of 16 but not the age of 19 and in respect of whom either parent, or some person acting in the place of either parent, is receiving universal credit, income support or an income-based jobseeker's allowance.^F9F10

(7)Any reference in subsection (6) above to children of whom the man or the woman is the father or the mother shall be construed in accordance with section 1 of the Family Law Reform Act 1987.

(8)Subsection (7) above does not apply in Scotland, and in the application of subsection (6) above to Scotland any reference to children of whom the man or the woman is the father or the mother shall be construed as a reference to any such children whether or not their parents have ever been married to one another.

(9)A document bearing a certificate which—

(a)is signed by a person authorised in that behalf by the Secretary of State; and

(b)states that the document apart from the certificate is, or is a copy of such an undertaking as is mentioned in subsection (6)(c) above, shall be conclusive of the undertaking in question for the purposes of this section; and a certificate purporting to be so signed shall be deemed to be so signed until the contrary is proved.