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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> UK Social Security and Child Support Commissioners' Decisions >> [2000] UKSSCSC CP_3035_1999 (12 September 2000) URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSSCSC/2000/CP_3035_1999.html Cite as: [2000] UKSSCSC CP_3035_1999 |
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[2000] UKSSCSC CP_3035_1999 (12 September 2000)
R(P) 1/01
Mr. D. Williams CP/3035/1999
12.9.00 CP/3717/1999
Residence condition - claimants resident in both Britain and New Zealand - whether "ordinarily resident" in both countries
From 1992, each year the claimants (who were husband and wife) lived for most of the year in New Zealand but came back to Britain for a single period of between two and six months. On 9 April 1998 an adjudication officer decided that they were not entitled to the annual up-ratings of retirement pension from 10 April 1995 on the ground that they were not ordinarily resident in Britain immediately before that date, pursuant to reg. 5 of the Social Security Benefit (Person Abroad) Regulations 1975. The claimants appealed to a social security appeal tribunal. In evidence they confirmed that in future, so long as they could travel, they planned to spend eight months in New Zealand and four months in Britain. They explained that they did not travel to other countries and they never left Britain without buying return tickets. The reason for their arrangements was that there were domestic problems in the family and the wife was looking after their grandchildren for part of the time. She had been granted residency rights in New Zealand to prevent her being an overstayer under New Zealand immigration law. Although the husband travelled with and stayed with his wife, he did not claim residency rights in New Zealand. They made the point that they were both British nationals who had had their home in Britain for 43 years together before the present dispute started. The wife retained the home in Britain (although she was trying to sell it during the later part of the period) which was available for them both to live in at any time, but because of their family commitments they had also set up home in New Zealand. The British pension was a main source of income, and they received no New Zealand pension. Income tax was paid in Britain during at least part of the period in issue. There were some inconsistencies in their statements about their longer term intentions and where they lived and where they intended to live. For example in September 1997 the wife had completed a form to the effect that she was leaving Britain permanently as from March 1995 but when this was queried by the Department of Social Security, she wrote in October 1997 to point out that she had been back to Britain for extended periods three times since then. She also stated in another letter in 1997 that she was a permanent resident in New Zealand but in that letter she also suggested that her husband was retaining British links. However, all the statements to which the husband put his name were to the effect that he remained ordinarily resident in Britain. The tribunal found the claimants were ordinarily resident in New Zealand and dismissed their appeal, and they appealed to the Commissioner.
Held, allowing the appeal, that:
- the question was whether, immediately before 10 April 1995, or on any other relevant subsequent date, the claimants had ceased to be ordinarily resident in Great Britain, which was a question of fact in all the circumstances and there was no special meaning attached to "ordinarily resident" in this context - it was the ordinary meaning of the words that applied (para. 17);
- the question of whether the claimants had ceased to be ordinarily resident was not the same thing as asking whether they had ceased to be habitually resident in Great Britain (para. 17);
- having found the claimants were ordinarily resident in New Zealand the tribunal concluded they must have ceased to be ordinarily resident in Britain, which was wrong because it was not an either/or question - they could be ordinarily resident in both countries and the fact that the claimants, or either of them, had become resident or ordinarily resident in New Zealand was only one part of the factual picture to be taken into account in assessing if either or both had given up their ordinary residence in Britain (para. 17);
- the starting point was that the claimants were long term ordinary residents of Britain for many years before the visits to New Zealand started and for that reason, and as the decisions were review decisions, the onus was on the Secretary of State to show that the circumstance of ordinary residence in Britain had changed in each case, and when it had changed (para. 19);
- it was necessary for the Secretary of State and tribunal to consider all the facts available at the time of their respective decisions to see what pattern of life the claimants had, whether those facts occurred before, during, or after the period of benefit under consideration, as there was no fixed time attached to the period that could be reviewed in identifying it, and the temporal limits in the Social Security Act 1998 would not affect this if they were applicable, because the "circumstance" was whether the claimant was or was not ordinarily resident, and in the case of a tribunal it was only if the evidence showed a change of circumstances occurring after the decision of the Secretary of State that the tribunal should stop looking (para. 23);
- a decision by the Inland Revenue on the question of the claimants' ordinary residence would not have been binding on the tribunal or the Commissioner (para. 13);
- taking into account the following facts, the balance of probabilities was that the claimants were and remained ordinarily resident in Britain (paras. 20 to 22):
(i) Britain had been, until the events in issue, their long term home, and they still had a home there at all relevant times which was not occupied by anyone else (even though they tried to sell it);(ii) by reason of their pensions their strongest economic ties were with Britain which was and remained the source of their main income and was a country where one at least was paying tax;(iii) there was a clear pattern over several years (at least seven) of extended periods spent in both Britain and New Zealand but at no time did a full year go by without an extended visit back to Britain and by 1998 the claimants had established a clear pattern of extended residence in both Britain and New Zealand, which was particularly important as the claimants had a settled pattern of living of the kind within the views of Lord Warrington of Clyffe in Levene v. Commissioners of Inland Revenue [1928] AC 217 (at 232);(iv) although their intentions appeared to be inconsistent, the inconsistency could be explained in part because they were reacting to family circumstances beyond their control which argued for their presence in New Zealand for at least one extended period, and, taking an overall view of their statements, there was not any unambiguous statement by them that they were indefinitely leaving Britain, it was not proved that at any time they left Britain without any definite intention to return, and there was no evidence to suggest that both claimants acted otherwise than together throughout, whatever separately they might have said about future intentions.
DECISION OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY COMMISSIONER
CP/3035/1999:
The claimant was and remained ordinarily resident in Great Britain at all times relevant for the purposes of this appeal. The review decision of the adjudication officer dated 9 April 1998 is therefore set aside.
CP/3717/1999:
The claimant was and remained ordinarily resident in Great Britain at all times relevant for the purposes of this appeal. The review decision of the adjudication officer dated 9 April 1998 is therefore set aside.
As a result of these decisions there is no valid review of the entitlement to either Mr. or Mrs. C to the original retirement pension awarded by the adjudication officer, and those full entitlements should therefore be paid unless and until revised or superseded. It also follows that no question of any overpayment arises, and there can be no question of recovery of any benefit. As these are decisions on the facts, either party to either appeal is at liberty to refer any point of uncertainty or dispute arising in respect of the implementation of this decision back to me (or to another Commissioner if I am not available).
Background to this appeal
10.10.1992 Arrived in New Zealand
04.04.1993 Arrived in Britain
17.10.1993 Arrived in New Zealand
15.04.1994 Arrived in Britain
18.09.1994 Arrived in New Zealand
12.05.1995 Arrived in Britain
28.09.1995 Arrived in New Zealand
28.05.1996 Arrived in Britain
29.09.1996 Arrived in New Zealand
09.06.1997 Arrived in Britain
10.08.1997 Arrived in New Zealand
12.05.1998 Arrived in Britain
The tribunal heard the case on 8 September 1998. It was told that Mr. and Mrs. C would again shortly be going to New Zealand. It was also told that they would in future, so long as they could travel, spend eight months in New Zealand and four months in Britain. The evidence was that Mr. and Mrs. C stayed in each of the countries from arrival to departure on each occasion. Visits were organised well in advance in both directions. Mr. C stated that they never left Britain without buying return tickets.
The law
"[Subject to specific exceptions] a person shall not be disqualified for receiving ... a retirement pension of any category or graduated retirement pension by reason of being absent from Great Britain."
Exceptions are set out in regulation 5(1)-(3). These are in the appeal papers and I need not repeat them here in full. The terms of the provisions are not in dispute, nor their interpretation. Their effect is to stop a pensioner who is outside Britain receiving the annually awarded upratings of pension if he or she is not "ordinarily resident in Great Britain immediately before" the date on which an annual uprating order comes into effect until he or she again becomes ordinarily resident in Great Britain.
Ordinarily resident
"' Ordinarily resident' also seems to me to have no such technical or special meaning. In particular it is in my opinion impossible to restrict its connotation to its duration. A member of this House may well be said to be ordinarily resident in London during the Parliamentary session and in the country during the recess. If it has any definite meaning I should say it means according to the way in which a man's life is ordered."
The Department of Social Security appears to have had that view in mind when it formulated its own definition of "ordinarily resident" (see document 10):
"'Ordinarily resident' means a person must be normally resident apart from temporary or occasional absences of long or short duration. 'Ordinary residence' means residence in a place with some degree of continuity and apart from accidental or temporary residence. Alternatively it might be described as residence according to the way in which a person's life is usually ordered. There is no fixed time limit attached to the term ordinary residence."
"I also appreciate that as Scarman J (as he then was) said in Sinclair v. Sinclair [[1968] P 207, 232] 'there is nothing exclusive about residence. A man may reside in several places at one and the same time.' But in the context of the regulations I am considering it seems to me that a person who has a matrimonial home in one country is not normally to be treated as resident in another country at a time while he is residing at the matrimonial home. And that is particularly true if he has not a settled home in the other country."
In my view, that decision can be distinguished readily from the cases I am considering on the ground that in these cases there was a home in Britain at all relevant times and because the "matrimonial home" in the sense used by the Commissioner (which is, I think, the centre of the couple's activities as a couple) appears to have moved with the couple between Britain and New Zealand. I therefore find that the reasons given by the Commissioner for not considering the claimant in that case resident in Britain on the relevant dates do not apply to these cases.
"The claimant points out that for income tax purposes the Inland Revenue authorities have treated her as continuously resident and ordinarily resident here since September 1973. That is not conclusive of the questions I have to decide. In the first place, the claimant's treatment for tax purposes merely reflects the opinion of an inspector of Taxes, and that opinion is not binding on me. In the second place, the Inland Revenue treatment is based on the provisions of the Income Tax Acts, and I am concerned with different statutory provisions. Having said that, however, I should also say that the income tax cases do give assistance on the factors to be taken into consideration in determining whether a person is resident or ordinarily resident in a particular country ..."
The Commissioner then cited tax cases, including Levene noted above, and also other cases dealing with matrimonial jurisdiction, including Sinclair noted above. I agree with the Commissioner in R(P) 1/78 that the decision of the Inland Revenue does not bind a Commissioner, or the appeal tribunal. As no specific decision of the Inland Revenue has been produced in this case, I need take the matter no further save to note that the published Revenue view is that taxpayers can have ordinary residence in more than one state.
"There is an overlap between the meaning of 'ordinary' and 'habitual' residence and one is sometimes defined in terms of the other ... I am not satisfied, but it is unnecessary to decide, that they are always synonymous. Each may take a shade of meaning from the context and the object and purpose of the legislation. But there is a common core of meaning which makes it relevant to consider what has been said in cases dealing with both ordinary and habitual residence."
His Lordship then surveyed the case law, concluding that "it is not necessary for the working of this particular legislation that the ordinary meanings of the word should be set aside in order that there is no gap between habitual residence in one state and habitual residence in another state". The key issue in Nessa was whether the claimant could become habitually resident in Britain on first arrival here without a period of residence. The House decided that this was a question of fact in the circumstances of each case. No further opinion was expressed on the meaning of "ordinary residence".
Where were Mr. and Mrs. C ordinarily resident?
My decision
"... that although the UK Inland Revenue can consider the question of residency (sic) over a period of a number of years, when applying the test for social security purposes, it would not be appropriate to consider a period longer than that in question in the relevant decision."
I disagree. The Secretary of State and tribunal should consider all the facts available at the time of their respective decisions to see what pattern of life a claimant has, whether those facts occur before, during, or after the period of benefit under consideration. The definition of the Department of Social Security, quoted above, was right in saying "there is no fixed time limit attached to ordinary residence." Likewise, there is no fixed time attached to the period that can be reviewed in identifying it. Nor do the temporal limits in the Social Security Act 1998 affect this, because the "circumstance" is whether the claimant is or is not ordinarily resident. In the case of a tribunal, it is only if the evidence shows a change of circumstances occurring after the decision of the Secretary of State that the tribunal should now stop looking. In particular, I reject as artificial and unfounded the way that the adjudication officer put "the facts" to the tribunal in this case by plucking a period of 44 months out of the middle of the relevant period and considering only that. The evidence in this case shows a clear pattern and, as with any pattern, it is wrong to try and derive the whole pattern from looking only at a part of it when the other parts can also be examined readily.
Date: 12 September 2000 (signed) Mr. D. Williams
Commissioner