The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 24 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Commencement No. 9 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2015

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order brings into force provisions of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c. 5) (“the Act”) that relate to universal credit (“UC”) and the abolition of income-related employment and support allowance and income-based jobseeker’s allowance, in relation to the cases set out in articles 3 and 4.

Article 2 defines the gateway conditions, which are the requirements to be met to make a claim for UC. They are set out in Schedule 5 to the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Commencement No. 8 and Savings and Transitional Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/983 (C. 41) (“the No. 9 Order”)). Article 5 amends paragraph 7(e) of Schedule 5 to allow the gateway condition requiring a UC claimant to have a particular type of account to be met in the case of a claim by a couple if either member of the couple has such an account.

Paragraph (a) of the definition of the gateway conditions causes them to have effect apart from the amendments to Schedule 5 made by article 4(5)(b) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 19 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/32 (C.3)), which removed the condition that a claimant must not, for the majority of cases, have responsibility for children or young persons. That gateway condition is reapplied for claims made with respect to the areas to which this Order applies. The gateway conditions are further modified by paragraph (b) of the definition and paragraph (3) to require that a claimant must be single, with consequent changes to alter or omit provisions relevant only to couples including the amendment by article 5 (“the modified gateway conditions”).

Article 3 brings into force provisions relating to UC in Part 1 of the Act (“the UC provisions”), as set out in Schedule 2 to the No. 9 Order, in relation to a number of different cases as set out below.

Under article 3(2)(a) to (cc), the UC provisions come into force in relation to a claim for UC and any award that is made in respect of the claim, where the claim is made on or after a specified date with respect to a period that begins on or after that date and, on the date on which the claim is made, the claimant resides in a specified area and complies with the modified gateway conditions. The specified dates and areas are as follows–

(a) 21st September 2015: the No. 53 relevant districts;

(b) 28th September 2015: the No. 54 relevant districts;

(c) 5th October 2015: the No. 55 relevant districts;

(d) 12th October 2015: the No. 56 relevant districts;

(e) 19th October 2015: the No. 57 relevant districts;

(f) 26th October 2015: the No. 58 relevant districts;

(g) 2nd November 2015: the No. 59 relevant districts;

(h) 9th November 2015: the No. 60 relevant districts;

(i) 16th November 2015: the No. 61 relevant districts;

(j) 23rd November 2015: the No. 62 relevant districts;

(k) 30th November 2015: the No. 63 relevant districts;

(l) 7th December 2015: the No. 64 relevant districts;

(m) 14th December 2015: the No. 65 relevant districts;

(n) 11th January 2016: the No. 66 relevant districts;

(o) 18th January 2016: the No. 67 relevant districts;

(p) 25th January 2016: the No. 68 relevant districts;

(q) 1st February 2016: the No. 69 relevant districts;

(r) 8th February 2016: the No. 70 relevant districts;

(s) 15th February 2016: the No. 71 relevant districts;

(t) 22nd February 2016: the No. 72 relevant districts;

(u) 29th February 2016: the No. 73 relevant districts;

(v) 7th March 2016: the No. 74 relevant districts;

(w) 14th March 2016: the No. 75 relevant districts;

(x) 21st March 2016: the No. 76 relevant districts;

(y) 28th March 2016: the No. 77 relevant districts;

(z) 11th April 2016: the No. 78 relevant districts;

(aa) 18th April 2016: the No. 79 relevant districts;

(bb) 25th April 2016: the No. 80 relevant districts;

(cc) 25th April 2016: any postcode or part-postcode in England and Wales or Scotland not already referred to by one of “the UC commencement orders” (as defined in article 2) or within the No. 53 to No. 80 relevant districts.

The postcodes and part-postcodes in each of the numbered relevant districts are set out in the table contained in the document entitled Index of Relevant Districts, issued by the Department for Work and Pensions on the date of making this Order. The postcodes and part-postcodes are set out in the first column of the table and cross-refer to the relevant number in the third column. The document is available in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament and may also be obtained free of charge from the UC Policy Division of the Department for Work and Pensions, Level 3E, Caxton House, 6-12 Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9NA, in hard copy, or from the Gov.UK website, in soft copy, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-national-expansion.

Under article 3(2)(dd), the UC provisions come into force in relation to a claim for UC and any award that is made in respect of the claim where the claimant claims UC on or after the date specified in any of sub-paragraphs (a) to (cc) of article 3(2), in respect of a period that begins on or after that date, and provides incorrect information regarding the claimant residing in the area specified in that sub-paragraph or meeting the modified gateway conditions, but this is only discovered once payments of UC have been made.

Under article 3(3), the day appointed for the commencement of the UC provisions in the above cases is the first day of the period in respect of which the claim is made.

Paragraphs (4) and (5) of article 3 apply the provisions of article 3(6) (period for which a claim for universal credit is made) and article 3A (incorrect information regarding entitlement to claim universal credit) of the No. 9 Order respectively to the cases in article 3(2) of this Order.

Article 4 brings into force provisions of the Act relating to the abolition of income-related employment and support allowance and of income-based jobseeker’s allowance (“the amending provisions”), in relation to a number of different cases as referred to below.

Under article 4(1) and sub-paragraphs (a), (c), (e), (g), (i), (k), (m), (o), (q), (s), (u), (w), (y), (aa), (cc), (ee), (gg), (ii), (kk), (mm), (oo), (qq), (ss), (uu), (ww), (yy), (aaa), (ccc) and (eee) of paragraph (2), the amending provisions come into force in relation to a claim for UC, and any award that is made in respect of the claim, where the claim is made on or after the date specified in any of those sub-paragraphs with respect to a period that begins on or after that date and, on the date on which the claim is made, the claimant resides in the area specified in that sub-paragraph and complies with the modified gateway conditions. (The specified dates and areas are the same as those listed above in connection with the coming into force of the UC provisions).

Under article 4(1) and (2)(ggg), the amending provisions come into force in relation to a claim for UC, and any award that is made in respect of the claim, where a claimant claims UC on or after the date specified in relation to a claim for UC within one of the sub-paragraphs of article 4(2) referred to in the previous paragraph in respect of a period that begins on or after that date and provides incorrect information regarding the claimant residing in the area specified in that sub-paragraph or meeting the modified gateway conditions, but this is only discovered once payments of UC have been made.

Under article 4(1) and sub-paragraphs (b), (d), (f), (h), (j), (l), (n), (p), (r), (t), (v), (x), (z), (bb), (dd), (ff), (hh), (jj), (ll) (nn), (pp), (rr), (tt), (vv), (xx), (zz), (bbb), (ddd) and (fff) of paragraph (2) (“the relevant ESA and JSA claiming provisions”), the amending provisions come into force in relation to a claim for ESA or JSA, and any award that is made in respect of the claim, where the claim is made or treated as made on or after the date specified in any of those sub-paragraphs and, on the date on which the claim is made or treated as made, the claimant resides in the area specified in that sub-paragraph and complies with the modified gateway conditions. (Again, the specified dates and areas are the same as those listed above in connection with the coming into force of the UC provisions).

Under article 4(1) and (2)(hhh), the amending provisions come into force in relation to the case of a claim for ESA or JSA where the claim is not a claim for ESA or JSA as referred to in the relevant ESA and JSA claiming provisions and where the claim is made during the “relevant period” (mainly the period when a claim for UC is being considered or an award of UC is extant).

Under article 4(3), the day appointed for the coming into force of the amending provisions in the above cases is the first day of the period in respect of which the claim is made.

Paragraphs (6) to (8) of article 4 (conversion of awards of incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance, old-style ESA and JSA awards) apply the provisions of article 4(6), (7), (9) and (10), and article 5(1)(a) (interpretation of Schedule 5 to the No. 9 Order) and (8) (the period for which a claim for ESA, JSA or UC is made) of the No. 9 Order to the cases in article 4(2).

Article 5 concerns amendment of the gateway conditions in Schedule 5 to the No. 9 Order, explained above.

Article 6 provides that articles 9 to 22 of the No. 9 Order (transitional provisions) apply in connection with the coming into force of the amending provisions in relation to the case of a claim referred to in article 4(2), and any award made in respect of the claim, as they apply in connection with the coming into force of the amending provisions in relation to the case of a claim referred to in article 4(2)(a), (b) or (g) of the No. 9 Order, and any award made in respect of the claim.

Article 7, with effect from 21st September 2015, modifies the Universal Credit (Digital Service) Amendment Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/2887) so that those Regulations have effect as if they do not apply to the case of an award of UC made by virtue of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 22 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/101 (C. 6) (“the No. 22 Order”) or by virtue of this Order (unless one of the exceptions in regulation 5 of those Regulations applies). Article 8 revokes the previous modification of those regulations by article 6 of the No. 22 Order, to refer to that Order, with effect from the same date.

Article 9, with effect from 21st September 2015, modifies the Universal Credit (Surpluses and Self-Employed Losses) (Digital Service) Amendment Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/345) so that those Regulations have effect as if they do not apply to the case of an award of UC made by virtue of this Order (unless one of the exceptions in regulation 4 of those Regulations applies).