4600

NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

No. 193

Note that the direction (including the schedule of standard costs) has since been amended by amendments published in the Gazette, 1999, pages 1607 and 4104.

Direction in Relation to Special Benefit

To: The Chief Executive, Department of Work and Income.

Pursuant to section 5 of the Social Security Act 1964, I, Roger Morrison Sowry, Minister of Social Services, Work and Income, give the following direction to take effect on 12 February 1999.

I revoke effective on that date all previous Ministerial directions under that section concerning the grant of special benefit under that Act.

Dated this 10th day of February 1999.

ROGER SOWRY, Minister of Social Services, Work and Income.

DIRECTION

Grants of Special Benefit

In the exercise of your discretion to grant a special benefit under section 61G of the Act, and without derogating from your duty to have regard to the particular financial circumstances and commitments of the applicant, you must have regard to the following matters.

1. General principles

1.1 That the intention of a special benefit under the Act is to alleviate financial hardship and that a special benefit should not be granted unless without the grant, the applicant or a person dependent upon the applicant would suffer financial hardship.

1.2 That a special benefit should not normally be granted unless the applicant’s Deficiency of Income over his or her expenditure and commitments is reasonably substantial, and that Deficiency is likely to continue for a period that justifies special benefit being granted.

1.3 That a special benefit should be considered only in respect of costs of the applicant that are essential and not reasonably avoidable.

1.4 THAT in considering any application for special benefit, consideration should be given to—

(a) The applicant’s ability to meet the Deficiency from the applicant’s own resources; and

(b) The assistance that is or might be available to the applicant from other sources to meet the applicant’s Deficiency.

In particular, when considering—

(c) An application for a special benefit by a full-time student or the student’s dependent spouse, you should take into account the availability of financial support during the academic year under the student allowance or student loan schemes; or

(d) An application for special benefit for the costs of any essential health services or disability services (as those terms are defined in the Health and Disability Services Act 1993), you should take into account the assistance available under that Act,—

and special benefit should not normally be considered for expenses normally covered by the assistance available under those schemes or that Act unless the applicant has extraordinary expenses and has exhausted his or her entitlements under those schemes or that Act.

2. Definitions

2.1 In this direction, unless the context otherwise requires:

“Accommodation costs” has the meaning in section 61E of the Act:

“the Act” means the Social Security Act 1964:

“Allowable costs”, in relation to an applicant and subject to section 68A of the Act, means any regular essential expenses reckoned on a weekly basis arising out of the special circumstances of the applicant and his or her spouse (if any) which cannot readily be avoided or varied, and include—

(a) The applicant’s actual accommodation costs including arrears, provided that any arrears incurred while the person was in receipt of accommodation benefit, accommodation supplement, rent rebate allowance, or tenure protection allowance under the Act are not to be included; and

(b) Hire purchase and other types of regular payments for a washing machine or a refrigerator or a television set or for household furniture where the acquisition of that item was essential; and

(c) Disability related expenses, being expenses of a kind for which a disability allowance would be payable under section 69C of the Act (but not including any counselling costs in excess of the amount made available by way of disability allowance under the Act); and

(d) Motor vehicle repayments and reasonable running costs where—

(i) The vehicle is required for the transport of the applicant or his or her spouse to and from employment; or

(ii) The applicant or a member of his or her family suffers chronic illness or has a disability and the vehicle is required for that person’s transport,—

and no suitable public transport is available;

(e) Motor vehicle repayments for an applicant who is a beneficiary where—

(i) There is no public transport available; and

(ii) The agreement to acquire the vehicle on terms was entered into prior to the applicant applying for the benefit;

(f) The costs of public transport to and from employment;