196.—(1) Subject to F1113[sections 195A, 195B, section 341(7) and section 341(7C),] the amount of supplementary welfare allowance to which a person is entitled shall be the amount by which the person's means fall short of his or her needs, and for the purpose of ascertaining that amount—

(a) the weekly needs of a person shall, subject to any payment under section 198, be taken to be—

(i) in the case of a person who has no means, the amount calculated in accordance with section 197, or

(ii) in the case of a person who has means, the amount calculated in accordance with section 197 which would be appropriate in the person's case if he or she had no means, reduced by €1 per week for every €1 of his or her weekly means,

and

(b) subject to paragraph (c), the weekly means of any person for the purpose of ascertaining his or her entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance shall be calculated in accordance with the Rules contained in Part 4 of Schedule 3.

(c) The amount calculated in accordance with paragraph (b) shall be rounded up to the nearest €1 where it is a multiple of 50 cent but not also a multiple of €1 and shall be rounded to the nearest €1 where it is not a multiple of 50 cent or €1.

[1993 s177(2)]

(2) In calculating the amount of supplementary welfare allowance payable to any person, the following apply:

F1114[(a) where—

F1115[(i) both spouses of a married couple,]

(ii) both civil partners of a civil partnership, or

(iii) both cohabitants,

are members of the same household, their needs and means shall be aggregated and shall be regarded as the needs and means of the claimant;]

(b) in the case of a person with a qualified child his or her needs shall be taken to include the needs of that qualified child;

(c) where the needs of any person are taken into account in determining the entitlement of any other person to supplementary welfare allowance, only that other person shall be entitled to an allowance.