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Neutral Citation Number:
Reported Number:	R(IB)1/06
File Number:	CIB 4174 2003
Appellant:	Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Doyle
Respondent:
Judge/Commissioner:	Mr R.J.C. Angus
Date Of Decision:	27/04/2006
Date Added:	14/03/2005
Main Category:	Earnings and other income
Main Subcategory:	Calculation: self employed
Secondary Category:	Incapacity benefits
Secondary Subcategory:	other
Notes:	Income - calculation of exempt earnings for entitlement to incapacity benefit - whether Computation of Earnings Regulations apply The claimant was in receipt of incapacity benefit and had an income from student lodgers. Regulation 16 of the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) (General) Regulations 1995 provided that a claimant should be treated as capable of work, and therefore not entitled to incapacity benefit, on each day of every week during which he does any work, subject to exemptions set out in regulation 17. The claimant appealed to the Commissioner against the decision of an appeal tribunal that her earnings from self-employment exceeded the limit for exempt work set out in regulation 17. The Commissioner calculated the claimant’s earnings on a week-by-week basis rather than averaged over a one-year (or shorter) period as would have been required by the Social Security Benefit (Computation of Earnings) Regulations 1996. He held that the Computation Regulations did not govern the calculation of the claimant’s earnings, since those regulations were for the calculation of earnings for the purposes of Parts II to V of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 and regulations made under those parts of that Act and it was Part XIIA of the 1992 Act that provided for regulations to be made concerning capacity for work and under which the Incapacity for Work Regulations were made. The Secretary of State appealed to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the Computation Regulations applied. Held, allowing the appeal, that: It is Part II of the 1992 Act which by section 30A sets out incapacity for work as the essential ground of entitlement to incapacity benefit, while Part XIIA simply provides for the making of provision ancillary to Part II, and so the Computation Regulations apply to calculations for the purpose of that entitlement (paragraph 15).
Decision(s) to Download:	R(IB) 1_06 ws.doc