The Social Security (Adjudication) Amendment Regulations 1990

• Citation: S.I. 1990/603
• Sections: 11

Section 1 Citation, commencement and interpretation

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Adjudication) Amendment Regulations 1990 and shall come into force on 6th April 1990.

(2) In these Regulations, “the Adjudication Regulations ” means the Social Security (Adjudication) Regulations 1986 .

Section 2 Amendment of regulation 1

(1) Regulation 1 of the Adjudication Regulations (citation, commencement and interpretation) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In paragraph (2) after the definition “inquiry” there shall be inserted the following definition —

“local office” means an office of the Department of Social Security, an office of the Department of Employment or the office of the Chief Adjudication Officer;

(3) In paragraph (3)(b) after the words “be treated as having been” there shall be inserted the words “given or”.

Section 3 Amendment of regulation 3

(1) Regulation 3 of the Adjudication Regulations (manner of making applications, appeals or references; and time limits) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In paragraph (5) after the words “on which it is made or given” there shall be added the words “and, in the case of an appeal, it shall include sufficient particulars of the decision under appeal to enable that decision to be identified.”.

(3) After paragraph (6) there shall be added the following paragraph—

(7) A chairman of an appeal tribunal or a medical appeal tribunal may give directions for the disposal of any purported appeal where he is satisfied that the tribunal does not have jurisdiction to entertain the appeal.

Section 4 Amendment of regulation 6

In paragraph (2)(a)(i) of regulation 6 of the Adjudication Regulations (withdrawal of applications, appeals and references) for the words “the adjudication officer” there shall be substituted “an adjudication officer”.

Section 5 Omission of regulation 8

Regulation 8 of the Adjudication Regulations (medical references) shall be omitted.

Section 6 Amendment of regulation 21

(1) Regulation 21 of the Adjudication Regulations (procedure on claim or question involving questions for determination by the Secretary of State) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) Paragraph (2) shall be omitted.

(3) For paragraphs (3) and (4) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—

(3) Where—

(a) the claimant replies to the notice referred to in paragraph (1) expressing his dissatisfaction with the decision, and

(b) after any appropriate investigations and explanations have been made, the claimant nonetheless remains dissatisfied with the decision, and

(c) an adjudication officer certifies that the sole ground for dissatisfaction appears to be the assumption referred to in paragraph (1),

the claimant shall be notified in writing of his right to apply for the determination by the Secretary of State of the question arising on the assumption.

(4) Where the Secretary of State’s decision—

(a) upholds the assumption, section 100(3) of the 1975 Act shall apply as if the adjudication officer had given the certificate therein referred to;

(b) does not uphold the assumption, the Secretary of State’s decision may be treated by the adjudication officer as an application for the review of the adjudication officer’s decision, and for the purpose of the regulation 65, the date of the claimant application for the Secretary of State’s decision shall be treated as the date the application for review.

Section 7 Amendment of regulation 24

(1) Regulation 24 of the Adjudication Regulations (oral hearing of appeals and references) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In paragraph (l) after the words “An appeal tribunal shall” there shall be inserted the words “except where section 104(3B)(a) of the 1975 Act applies”.

(3) Paragraphs (4) and (5) shall be omitted.

Section 8 Omission of regulation 35

Regulation 35 of the Adjudication Regulations (reference by a medical appeal tribunal of a question of law for decision by a Commissioner) shall be omitted.

Section 9 Amendment of regulation 36

(1) Regulation 36 of the Adjudication Regulations (procedure of a medical appeal tribunal on receipt of a Commissioner’s decision) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In paragraph (l) the words “or reference” shall be omitted.

(3) Paragraph (3) shall be omitted.

(4) In paragraph (4) for the words “unless the medical appeal tribunal consists of” to the end there shall be substituted the words—

subject to any direction of the Commissioner, be by way of a complete rehearing of the appeal by persons who were not members of the tribunal which gave the erroneous decision

Section 10 Amendment of regulation 38

(1) Regulation 38 of the Adjudication Regulations (application for reviews of determinations made by the Board) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In paragraph (l) after the words “a determination on any ground is” there shall be inserted the words“, subject to paragraph (lA),”.

(3) After paragraph (l) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

(lA) Where a claimant submits an application for review under paragraph (l) by post, and the arrival of the application at a local office is delayed by postal disruption caused by industrial action, whether within the postal service or elsewhere, the application shall be treated as received on the day on which it would have been received if it had been delivered in the ordinary course of post.

Section 11 Amendment of Schedule 2

(1) Schedule 2 to the Adjudication Regulations (time. limits for making applications, appeals or references) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In Column 3 of paragraph 3 (specified time) for the words “medical board” there shall be substituted the words “adjudicating medical practitioner”.

(3) In Column 2 of paragraphs 7 and 8 (appropriate office) the words “Health and” shall be omitted in both places where they occur.