Committee for Employment & Social Security - P.2017/1
The States are asked to decide:-
Whether they are of the opinion to approve the draft Ordinance entitled "The Supplementary Benefit (Residence Conditions) Ordinance, 2017", and to direct that the same shall have effect as an Ordinance of the States.
This proposition has been submitted to Her Majesty's Procureur for advice on any legal or constitutional implications in accordance with Rule 4(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the States of Deliberation and their Committees.
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
The Ordinance is made under powers contained in the Supplementary Benefit (Guernsey) Law, 1971.
Section 1(1) provides that a relevant person, who satisfies the usual conditions for eligibility for a supplementary benefit, will not be eligible for that benefit unless he or she has also at any time resided in Guernsey or Alderney for a continuous period of 5 years. Section 1(2) makes clear, for the avoidance of doubt, that the continuous period of residence in Guernsey or Alderney may comprise a period or periods of residence in Guernsey and a period or periods of residence in Alderney. Section 1(3) enables the Administrator to direct that the residence condition under 1(1) shall not apply where he or she is of the view that there are exceptional circumstances that apply in relation to the relevant person concerned. Where the Administrator makes a direction under section 1(3), section 1(4) enables the Administrator to award a supplementary benefit of such amount and for such period as is, in the opinion of the Administrator, reasonable having regard to all the circumstances of the case.
A "relevant person" is defined in section 2(1) as a person whose resources are insufficient to meet his or her means and who occupies, or is otherwise resident in, a property inscribed in Part D of the Housing Register.
The Ordinance comes into force on the same day as Part 1 of the Open Market Housing Register (Guernsey) Law, 2016 comes into force.
