Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023

Welfare Reform Act 2007

55 (1) Section 20 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (relationship with statutory payments) is amended as follows.

(2) After subsection (7) insert—

“(7A) Except as regulations may provide, a person who is entitled to statutory neonatal care pay is not entitled to an employment and support allowance in respect of a day that falls within a period in respect of which statutory neonatal care pay is payable.

(7B) Regulations may provide that—

(a) an amount equal to a person’s statutory neonatal care pay for a period shall be deducted from an employment and support allowance in respect of the same period,

(b) a person shall only be entitled to an employment and support allowance if there is a balance after the deduction, and

(c) if there is such a balance, a person shall be entitled to an employment and support allowance at a weekly rate equal to it.”

(3) The references to an employment and support allowance in new subsections (7A) and (7B), and in sub-paragraph (4) of this paragraph, are references to an employment and support allowance payable under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 as amended by the Welfare Reform Act 2012.

(4) For as long as a contributory allowance continues to be payable, new subsections (7A) and (7B) are to apply to a contributory allowance as they apply to an employment and support allowance.

(5) In this paragraph—

(a) “new subsections (7A) and (7B)” means subsections (7A) and (7B) inserted by this paragraph into section 20 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007;

(b) “contributory allowance” has the meaning given by section 1(7) of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 before its repeal by the Welfare Reform Act 2012.

(6) In subsection (8), in the definition of “the adoption pay period”, for “that Act” substitute “the Contributions and Benefits Act”.