Amendment of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations E+W+S

2.—(1) The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 M1 shall be amended in accordance with the following paragraphs of this regulation.

(2) In regulation 130 (interpretation of Chapter IX of Part VIII)—

(a) in the definition of “contribution"M2 after the word “grant" there shall be inserted the words “ or student loan ”;

(b) for the definition of “year" there shall be substituted the following definitions—

• “student loan" means a loan towards a student’s maintenance pursuant to any regulations made under section 22 of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 M3 , section 73 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 M4 or Article 3 of the Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 M5 ;

• “year", in relation to a course, means the period of 12 months beginning on 1st January, 1st April, 1st July or 1st September according to whether the academic year of the course begins in the winter, the spring, the summer or the autumn respectively, but if students are required to begin attending the course during August or September and to continue attending through the autumn the academic year of the course shall be considered to begin in the autumn rather than the summer.

(3) In regulation 131 (calculation of grant income)—

(a) in paragraph (2)(f) M6 the words from “or" to the end shall be omitted;

(b) for paragraph (3) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(3) Where a student does not have a student loan and is not treated as possessing such a loan, there shall be excluded from the student’s grant income—

(a) the sum of £250 in respect of travel costs; and

(b) where no amount has been disregarded under paragraph (2)(f), the sum of £303 towards the cost of books and equipment,

whether or not any such costs are incurred.”.

(4) In regulation 135(1) (other amounts to be disregarded) for the words “and 133(1)(a) or (b) (calculation of grant income and covenant income)" there shall be substituted the words “ , 133(1)(a) or (b) and 136(5) (calculation of grant income, covenant income and treatment of student loans) ”.

(5) In regulation 136 (treatment of student loans)—

(a) for paragraph (1) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(1) A student loan shall be treated as income.”;

(b) for paragraph (3) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—

“(3) A student shall be treated as possessing a student loan in respect of an academic year where—

(a) a student loan has been made to him in respect of that year; or

(b) he could acquire such a loan in respect of that year by taking reasonable steps to do so.

(4) Where a student is treated as possessing a student loan under paragraph (3), the amount of the student loan to be taken into account as income shall be, subject to paragraph (5)—

(a) in the case of a student to whom a student loan is made in respect of an academic year, a sum equal to the maximum student loan he is able to acquire in respect of that year by taking reasonable steps to do so and either—

(i) in the case of a student other than one to whom head (ii) refers, any contribution whether or not it has been paid to him; or

(ii) in the case of a student who satisfies the additional conditions for a disability premium specified in paragraph 14 of Schedule 1 (applicable amounts), any contribution which has actually been paid to him;

(b) in the case of a student to whom a student loan is not made in respect of an academic year, the maximum student loan that would be made to the student if—

(i) he took all reasonable steps to obtain the maximum student loan he is able to acquire in respect of that year; and

(ii) no deduction in that loan was made by virtue of the application of a means test.

(5) There shall be deducted from the amount of income taken into account under paragraph (4)—

(a) the sum of £250 in respect of travel costs; and

(b) where no amount has been disregarded under regulation 131(2)(f), the sum of £303 towards the cost of books and equipment,

whether or not any such costs are incurred.”.

(6) In regulation 137 (disregard of contribution) after the word “grant" there shall be inserted the words “ or student loan ”.

(7) In regulation 137A (further disregard of student’s income) M7 after the word “grant" there shall be inserted the words “ or student loan ”.

(8) In Schedule 7 (sums to be disregarded), paragraph 59, sub-paragraph (2) for head (b) there shall be substituted the following heads—

“(b) any student loan as defined in Chapter IX of Part VIII;

(c) any contribution as defined in Chapter IX of Part VIII which—

(i) is taken into account in ascertaining the amount of a student loan referred to in head (b); and

(ii) has been paid.”.

Marginal Citations

M1 S.I. 1996/207.

M2 The definition of “contribution" was amended by S.I. 1998/563.

M3 1998 c.30;see the Education (Student Support) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/496) and the Education (Student Loans) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/211).

M4 1980 c.44; section 73(f) was amended by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 (c.30), section 29(1),see the Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/1131 (S.91)) and the Education (Student Loans) Regulations 1998.

M5 S.I. 1998/1760 (N.I. 14);see the Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (S.R. 1999 No. 192) for loans to students commencing courses after 1st September 1998.

M6 The relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1996/1516, 1997/1671 and 1998/1379.

M7 Regulation 137A was inserted by S.I. 1998/563.