Legislation – Welfare Reform Act 2009
Changes to legislation:
Welfare Reform Act 2009, Section 39 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 01 April 2026. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.![]()
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Part 2Disabled people: right to control provision of services
Introductory
39Relevant services
(1)
In this Part “relevant services” means services—
(a)
which are provided to or for the benefit of a disabled person (“P”) (whether or not in connection with P’s disability), and
(b)
which relate to one or more of the following matters.
(2)
Those matters are—
(a)
the provision of further education for P;
(b)
facilitating the undertaking by P of further education or higher education;
(c)
the provision of training for P;
(d)
securing employment for P;
(e)
facilitating P’s continued employment;
(f)
enabling P to live independently or more independently in P’s home;
(g)
the provision of residential accommodation for P;
(h)
enabling P to overcome barriers to participation in society.
(3)
Relevant services also include the provision by or on behalf of a relevant authority to or for the benefit of a disabled person of grants or loans relating to one or more of the matters mentioned in subsection (2).
(4)
Relevant services do not include excluded services (provision as to direct payments relating to excluded services being made by other legislation).
(5)
Subsection (4) is subject to section 44(4) (which relates to pilot schemes) and to section 48 (which gives power to repeal the exclusion of community care services).
(6)
In relation to England and Wales, the following are excluded services—
(a)
community care services,
F1(b)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(c)
services provided under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) (provision of services for children in need, their families and others) F2or sections 37 to 39 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (meeting care and support needs of children) .
(7)
In relation to Scotland, the following are excluded services—
(a)
community care services, and
(b)
services provided under section 22(1) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 36) (promotion of welfare of children in need).
(8)
In this section “further education” and “higher education”—
(a)
in relation to England and Wales, have the same meaning as in the Education Act 1996 (c. 56);
(b)
in relation to Scotland, have the same meaning as in the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 (c. 37).