The Social Security and Child Support (Jobseeker’s Allowance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1996

Amendment of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996

2.—(1) The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996(1) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) In regulation 1(3) (definitions)—

(a) in the definition of “benefit week”(2) —

(i) for head (a) there shall be substituted the following head—

“(a) where—

(i) the Secretary of State requires attendance otherwise than at regular two weekly intervals, or in the case of a claimant who is paid benefit in accordance with Part III, other than regulation 20A, of the Claims and Payments Regulations at the time he provides a signed declaration as referred to in regulation 24(6), the “benefit week” ends on such day as the Secretary of State may specify in a notice in writing given or sent to the claimant;

(ii) in accordance with an award of income support that includes the relevant day, the “benefit week” ends on a Saturday, the “benefit week” shall end on a Saturday, or on such other day as the Secretary of State may specify in a notice in writing given or sent to the claimant; or

(iii) in accordance with an award of unemployment benefit that includes the relevant day, the claimant is paid benefit in respect of a period of seven days ending on the week-day specified in a written notice given to him by the Secretary of State for the purpose of his claiming unemployment benefit, and that day is a Saturday, the “benefit week” shall end on a Saturday or on such other day as the Secretary of State may specify in a notice in writing given or sent to the claimant;”;

(ii) in head (b) for the words “less than a week;” there shall be substituted the words—

“less than a week,

and in this definition “relevant day” has the meaning it has in the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 1995(3).”;

(b) in the definition of “close relative” the word “,IV” shall be omitted;

(c) after the definition of “earnings” the following definitions shall be inserted—

““earnings top-up” means the allowance paid by the Secretary of State under the Earnings Top-up Scheme;

“the Earnings Top-up Scheme” means the Earnings Top-up Scheme 1996(4) as amended from time to time;”.

(3) In regulation 4 (interpretation of Parts II, IV and V), in the definition of “close relative” after the word “means” there shall be inserted the words “, except in Part IV,”.

(4) In regulation 47 (jobseeking period) after paragraph (2) the following paragraph shall be inserted—

“(2A) Any period in which a claimant is entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance in accordance with regulation 11(3) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 1995(5) shall, for the purposes of paragraph (1), be treated as a period in which he satisfies the conditions specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) and (e) to (i) of subsection (2) of section 1.”.

(5) After regulation 47 (jobseeking period) the following regulation shall be inserted—

“Jobseeking periods: periods of interruption of employment

47A.   For the purposes of section 2(4)(b)(i) and for determining any waiting days—

(a) where a jobseeking period or a linked period commences on 7th October 1996, any period of interruption of employment ending within the 8 weeks preceding the day the jobseeking period or linked period commenced,

(b) where a jobseeking period or a linked period commences after 7th October 1996, any period of interruption of employment ending within the 12 weeks preceding that date,

shall be treated as a jobseeking period.”.

(6) In regulation 48 (linking periods)—

(a) in paragraph (2) after sub-paragraph (d) the following sub-paragraph shall be added—

“(e) a period which includes 6th October during which the claimant attends court in response to a summons for jury service and which was immediately preceded by a period of entitlement to unemployment benefit.”;

(b) after paragraph (2) the following paragraph shall be inserted—

“(2A) A period is a linked period for the purposes of section 2(4)(b)(ii) of the Act only where it ends within 12 weeks or less of the commencement of a jobseeking period or of some other linked period.”.

(7) In regulation 85 (special cases)—

(a) in paragraph (4) at the beginning there shall be inserted the words “Subject to paragraph (4A),”;

(b) after paragraph (4) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(4A) In paragraph (4) “person from abroad” does not include any person in Great Britain who left the territory of Montserrat after 1st November 1995 because of the effect on that territory of a volcanic eruption.”;

(c) for paragraph (5) the following paragraph shall be substituted—

“(5) A person shall continue to be treated as being in residential accommodation within the meaning of paragraph (4) if—

(a) he is in, or only temporarily absent from, such residential accommodation, and the same accommodation subsequently becomes a residential care home for so long as he remains in that accommodation; or

(b) on 31st March 1993 he was in, or only temporarily absent from, accommodation of a kind mentioned in regulation 21(3B) to (3E) of the Income Support Regulations(6).”.

(8) In regulation 129 (date on which child support maintenance is to be treated as paid)—

(a) in paragraph (1)(a) at the beginning there shall be inserted the words “subject to sub-paragraph (aa),”;

(b) after paragraph (1)(a) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph—

“(aa) in the case of any amount of a payment which represents arrears of maintenance for a week prior to the benefit week in which the claimant first became entitled to an income-based jobseeker’s allowance, on the day of the week in which it became due which corresponds to the first day of the benefit week;”;

(c) for paragraph (2) the following paragraph shall be substituted—

“(2) Where a payment to which paragraph (1)(b) refers is made to the Secretary of State and then transmitted to the person entitled to receive it, the payment shall be treated as paid on the first day of the benefit week in which it is transmitted or, where it is not practicable to take it into account in that week, the first day of the first succeeding benefit week in which it is practicable to take the payment into account.”.

(9) In regulation 141 (circumstances in which an income-based jobseeker’s allowance is payable to a person in hardship) in paragraph (2) for the words “a reason for the delay” there shall be substituted the words “the sole reason for the delay” and at the end the words “provided he satisfies the conditions of entitlement specified in paragraph (d)(ii) of subsection (2) of section 1.” shall be added.

(10) In regulation 142 (further circumstances in which an income-based jobseeker’s allowance is payable to a person in hardship) in paragraph (2)—

(a) for sub-paragraph (a) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(a) the 15th day following the date of claim disregarding any waiting days; or”;

(b) sub-paragraph (b) shall be omitted;

(c) for the words “a reason for the delay” there shall be substituted the words “the sole reason for the delay” and at the end the words “provided he satisfies the conditions of entitlement specified in paragraph (d)(ii) of subsection (2) of section 1.” shall be added.

(11) In Schedule 1 (applicable amounts)—

(a) for sub-paragraph (1)(b) of paragraph 8 there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(b) for any period spent by a claimant in undertaking a course of training or instruction provided or approved by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973(7), or by Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise under section 2 of the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990(8) or for any period during which he is in receipt of a training allowance.”;

(b) in paragraph 12, for sub-head (ii) of paragraph (1)(c) there shall be substituted the following sub-head—

“(ii) satisfies the requirements of either sub-head (i) or (ii) of paragraph 12(1)(a); and”.

(12) In Schedule 2 (housing costs)—

(a) in paragraph 4, in sub-paragraph (2)(b) for the word “proceeding” there shall be substituted the word “preceding”;

(b) in paragraph 13(5), after head (b) there shall be inserted the following head—

“(bb) a personal rate of contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance that is equal to, or exceeds, the applicable amount in his case; or”;

(c) in paragraph 17—

(i) in sub-paragraph (2)(b) for the words “£10.00” there shall be substituted the words “£12.00”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (7)(b) for the words “an allowance payable”(9) to the end there shall be substituted the words “a training allowance paid in connection with a Youth Training Scheme established under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973 or section 2 of the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990; or”.

(13) In Schedule 5 (applicable amounts in special cases)—

(a) in paragraph 7 of Column (2), for the word “£13.35” there shall be substituted the word “£13.75”;

(b) in paragraph 13(2) of Column (1)—

(i) the word “(b)” shall be omitted;

(ii) for the word “(c)” there shall be substituted the word “(b)”; and

(iii) at the end the words “had claimed a jobseeker’s allowance.” shall be added.

(14) In Schedule 8 (capital to be disregarded), after sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph 12 the following sub-paragraph shall be inserted—

“(c) any allowance paid by the Secretary of State under the Earnings Top-up Scheme,”.

(1)

S.I. 1996/207.

(2)

The definition of “benefit week” was amended by S.I. 1996/1517.

(3)

S.I. 1995/3276.

(4)

This Scheme, which applies only in certain areas of Great Britain, is an extra-statutory Scheme introduced by the Secretary of State for Social Security having effect on 8th October 1996. Copies of the Rules of the Scheme may be obtained from the Customer Services Manager, Earnings Top-up, Norcross, Blackpool FY5 3TA and will be available for inspection at the Department of Social Security, 9th Floor, Adelphi, 1—11 John Adam Street, Lonond WC2N 6HT.

(5)

S.I. 1995/3276; relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1996/1515.

(6)

Relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1993/518, 2119, 1994/2139 and 1995/516.

(7)

1973 c. 50; as amended by sections 9 and 11 and Schedule 2, Part II paragraph 9 and Schedule 3 to the Employment and Training Act 1981 (c. 57).

(8)

1990 c. 35.

(9)

Relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1996/1517.