The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013

Amendments to the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006

7.—(1) The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006(1) are amended as follows.

(2) After the definition of “local housing allowance” in regulation 2(1)(2) (interpretation), insert—

““local welfare provision” means occasional financial or other assistance given by a local authority, the Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers, or a person authorised to exercise any function of, or provide a service to, them, to or in respect of individuals for the purpose of—

(a)

meeting, or helping to meet, an immediate short term need—

(i)

arising out of an exceptional event, or exceptional circumstances; and

(ii)

that requires to be met in order to avoid a risk to the well-being of an individual; or

(b)

enabling individuals to establish or maintain a settled home, where those individuals have been or, without the assistance, might otherwise be—

(i)

in prison, hospital, a residential care establishment or other institution; or

(ii)

homeless or otherwise living an unsettled way of life;”.

(3) In regulation 7 (circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home)—

(a) in paragraph (8)(c)(ii)(3), after “pending”, insert “local welfare provision or”;

(b) for paragraph (16)(c)(i)(4), substitute—

“(i) a person to whom paragraph (16A) applies;”; and

(c) after paragraph (16), insert—

“(16A) This paragraph applies to a person (“P”) who is—

(a) detained in custody on remand pending trial;

(b) detained pending sentence upon conviction; or

(c) as a condition of bail required to reside—

(i) in a dwelling, other than a dwelling P occupies as P’s home; or

(ii) in premises approved under section 13 of the Offender Management Act 2007,

and who is not also detained in custody following sentence upon conviction.”.

(4) In Schedule 3 (applicable amounts)—

(a) in Part 5 (the components) for paragraph 21(5) substitute—

“21.— (1) Subject to paragraph 22, the claimant is entitled to one, but not both, of the components in paragraph 23 or 24 if—

(a) the claimant or the claimant’s partner has made a claim for employment and support allowance;

(b) the Secretary of State has determined that the claimant or the claimant’s partner—

(i) has limited capability for work or limited capability for work-related activity; or

(ii) is to be treated as having limited capability for work other than by virtue of regulation 30 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (conditions for treating a claimant as having limited capability for work until a determination about limited capability for work has been made); and

(c) one of the following applies—

(i) the assessment phase as defined in section 24(2) of the Welfare Reform Act (interpretation) has ended;

(ii) regulation 7 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (circumstances where the condition that the assessment phase has ended before entitlement to the support component or the work-related activity component arises does not apply) applies; or

(iii) the conditions in sub-paragraph (2) apply.

(2) The conditions referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(c)(iii) are—

(a) neither the claimant nor the claimant’s partner is entitled to an employment and support allowance;

(b) either is or both are entitled to be credited with earnings equal to the lower earnings limit then in force under regulation 8B(2)(a)(iv) of the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 1975 (credits for incapacity for work or limited capability for work); and

(c) paragraph (1)(c)(i) or (ii) would have applied to the claimant or the claimant’s partner (or both) had they been entitled to an employment and support allowance.”; and

(b) in Part 7 (transitional addition) in paragraph 28(6)—

(i) in sub-paragraph (1)(c), after “the relevant person”, insert “satisfies the requirements of paragraph 27(1) or”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (3)(c), after “relevant person” insert “no longer satisfying the requirements of paragraph 27(1) or”.

(5) In Schedule 5 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other earnings)—

(a) after paragraph 31, insert—

“31A.   Any local welfare provision.”; and

(b) in paragraph 41(7), after “section 13” insert “, section 13A”.

(6) In Schedule 6 (capital to be disregarded)—

(a) after paragraph 20, insert—

“20A.   Any local welfare provision.”; and

(b) in paragraph 37, for “or, as the case may be,”, substitute “, section 13A or”.

(1)

S.I. 2006/213.

(2)

The definition of “local housing allowance” was inserted by S.I. 2007/2868.

(3)

Paragraph (8) was amended by S.I. 2007/2618, 2008/1042 and 1082 (as amended by S.I. 2008/2428).

(4)

Paragraph (16)(c)(i) was amended by S.I. 2008/2767.

(5)

Paragraph 21 was inserted by S.I. 2008/1082 as amended by S.I. 2008/2428.

(6)

Paragraph 28 was inserted by S.I. 2010/1907 and amended by S.I. 2012/919.

(7)

Paragraph 41 was amended by S.I. 2008/698.