The Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006

Treatment of child care charges

This section has no associated Explanatory Memorandum

31.—(1) This regulation applies where a claimant is incurring relevant child care charges and—

(a)is a lone parent and is engaged in remunerative work;

(b)is a member of a couple both of whom are engaged in remunerative work; or

(c)is a member of a couple where one member is engaged in remunerative work and the other—

(i)is incapacitated;

(ii)is an in-patient in hospital; or

(iii)is in prison (whether serving a custodial sentence or remanded in custody awaiting trial or sentence).

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) and subject to paragraph (4), a person to whom paragraph (3) applies shall be treated as engaged in remunerative work for a period not exceeding 28 weeks during which he—

(a)is paid statutory sick pay;

(b)is paid short-term incapacity benefit at the lower rate under sections 30A to 30E of the ActF1;

[F2(ba)is paid an employment and support allowance;]

(c)is paid income support on the grounds of incapacity for work under regulation 4ZA of, and paragraph 7 or 14 of Schedule 1B to, the Income Support RegulationsF3; or

(d)is credited with earnings on the grounds of incapacity for work [F4or limited capability for work] under regulation 8B of the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 1975F5.

(3) This paragraph applies to a person who was engaged in remunerative work immediately before—

(a)the first day of the period in respect of which he was first paid statutory sick pay, short-term incapacity benefit[F6, an employment and support allowance] or income support on the grounds of incapacity for work; or

(b)the first day of the period in respect of which earnings are credited,

as the case may be.

(4) In a case to which paragraph (2)(c) or (d) applies, the period of 28 weeks begins on the day on which the person is first paid income support or on the first day of the period in respect of which earnings are credited, as the case may be.

(5) Relevant child care charges are those charges for care to which paragraphs (6) and (7) apply, and shall be estimated on a weekly basis in accordance with paragraph (10).

(6) The charges are paid by the claimant for care which is provided—

(a)in the case of any child of the claimant's family who is not disabled, in respect of the period beginning on that child's date of birth and ending on the day preceding the first Monday in September following that child's fifteenth birthday; or

(b)in the case of any child of the claimant's family who is disabled, in respect of the period beginning on that person's date of birth and ending on the day preceding the first Monday in September following that person's sixteenth birthday.

(7) The charges are paid for care which is provided by one or more of the care providers listed in paragraph (8) and are not paid—

(a)in respect of the child's compulsory education;

(b)by a claimant to a partner or by a partner to a claimant in respect of any child for whom either or any of them is responsible in accordance with regulation 20 (circumstances in which a person is treated as responsible or not responsible for another); or

(c)in respect of care provided by a relative of a child wholly or mainly in the child's home.

(8) The care to which paragraph (7) refers may be provided—

(a)out of school hours, by a school on school premises or by a local authority—

(i)for children who are not disabled in respect of the period beginning on their eighth birthday and ending on the day preceding the first Monday in September following their fifteenth birthday; or

(ii)for children who are disabled in respect of the period beginning on their eighth birthday and ending on the day preceding the first Monday in September following their sixteenth birthday;

(b)by a child care provider approved by an organisation accredited by the Secretary of State under the scheme established by the Tax Credit (New Category of Child Care Provider) Regulations 1999F7;

(c)by persons registered under [F8Part 10A of the Children Act 1989] [F8Part 2 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010] F9;

[F10(d)in schools or establishments which are exempted from registration under Part 10A of the Children Act 1989 by virtue of paragraph 1 or 2 of Schedule 9A to that ActF11;]

[F10by a person who is excepted from registration under Part 2 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 because the child care that person provides is in a school or establishment referred to in article 11, 12 or 14 of the Child Minding and Day Care Exceptions (Wales) Order 2010;]

[F12(e)by—

(i)persons registered under section 59(1) of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010; or

(ii)local authorities registered under section 83(1),

where the care provided is child minding or day care of children within the meaning of that Act; or]

(f)by a person prescribed in regulations made pursuant to section 12(4) of the Tax Credits Act; [F13or

(g)by a person who is registered under Chapter 2 or 3 of Part 3 of the Childcare Act 2006; or

(h)by any of the schools mentioned in section 34(2) of the Childcare Act 2006 in circumstances where the requirement to register under Chapter 2 of Part 3 of that Act does not apply by virtue of section 34(2) of that Act; or

(i)by any of the schools mentioned in section 53(2) of the Childcare Act 2006 in circumstances where the requirement to register under Chapter 3 of Part 3 of that Act does not apply by virtue of section 53(2) of that Act; or

(j)by any of the establishments mentioned in section 18(5) of the Childcare Act 2006 in circumstances where the care is not included in the meaning of “childcare” for the purposes of Part 1 and Part 3 of that Act by virtue of that subsection; or

(k)by a foster parent [F14or kinship carer] under the Fostering Services Regulations 2002, the Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations 2003 or the [F15Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009] in relation to a child other than one whom the foster parent is fostering [F16or kinship carer is looking after]; or

(l)by a domiciliary care worker under the Domiciliary Care Agencies Regulations 2002 or [F17by a person who is employed, or engaged under a contract for services, to provide care and support by the provider of a domiciliary support service within the meaning of Part 1 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016]; or

(m)by a person who is not a relative of the child wholly or mainly in the child’s home.]

(9) In paragraphs (6) and (8)(a), “the first Monday in September” means the Monday which first occurs in the month of September in any year.

(10) Relevant child care charges shall be estimated over such period, not exceeding a year, as is appropriate in order that the average weekly charge may be estimated accurately having regard to information as to the amount of that charge provided by the child minder or person providing the care.

(11) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c) the other member of a couple is to be treated as incapacitated where—

(a)he is aged not less than 80;

(b)he is aged less than 80 and—

(i)the additional conditions specified in paragraph 13 of Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 are treated as applying in his case; and

(ii)he satisfies those conditions or would satisfy them but for his being treated as capable of work by virtue of a determination made in accordance with regulations made under section 171E of the ActF18;

[F19(ba)the [F20other member of the couple would be a member of the support group or] [F21a member of the work-related activity group] but for that other member being treated as not having limited capability for work by virtue of a determination made in accordance with the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations [F22or the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013];]

(c)the claimant is, or is treated as, incapable of work and has been so incapable, or has been so treated as incapable, of work in accordance with the provisions of, and regulations made under, Part 12A of the Act (incapacity for work) for a continuous period of not less than 196 days; and for this purpose any two or more separate periods separated by a break of not more than 56 days shall be treated as one continuous period;

[F23(ca)the claimant (within the meaning of regulation 2(1)) has, or is treated as having, limited capability for work and has had, or been treated as having, limited capability for work in accordance with the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations [F24or the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013] for a continuous period of not less than 196 days and for this purpose any two or more separate periods separated by a break of not more than 84 days must be treated as one continuous period;]

(d)there is payable in respect of him one or more of the following—

(i)long-term incapacity benefit or short-term incapacity benefit at the higher rate specified in paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 4 to the ActF25;

(ii)attendance allowance under section 64 of the Act;

[F26(iia)pension age disability payment;]

(iii)severe disablement allowance under section 68 of the Act;

(iv)disability living allowance under section 71 of the Act;

(v)increase of disablement pension under section 104 of the Act;

(vi)a pension increase [F27paid as part of a war disablement pension or under] an industrial injuries scheme which is analogous to an allowance or increase of disablement pension under head (ii), (iv) or (v) above;

[F28(vii)main phase employment and support allowance;]

[F29(viii)personal independence payment;]

[F30(ix)armed forces independence payment;]

[F31(x)adult disability payment;]

(e)a pension[F32, allowance or payment to which head (ii), (iv), (v), (vi) or (viii)] of sub-paragraph (d) above refers was payable on account of his incapacity but has ceased to be payable in consequence of his becoming a patient within the meaning of regulation 22(5) (applicable amounts);

[F33(ea)a pension age disability payment was payable on account of his incapacity but has ceased to be payable in accordance with regulation 20 (effect of admission to hospital on ongoing entitlement to pension age disability payment) of the Disability Assistance for Older People (Scotland) Regulations 2024;]

(f)[F34sub-paragraph (d) or (e)] would apply to him if the legislative provisions referred to in those sub-paragraphs were provisions under any corresponding enactment having effect in Northern Ireland; or

(g)he has an invalid carriage or other vehicle provided to him by the Secretary of State under section 5(2)(a) of and Schedule 2 to the National Health Service Act 1977 F35 or by Scottish Ministers under section 46 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 F36 or provided by the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland under Article 30(1) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972F37.

(12) For the purposes of paragraph (11), once paragraph (11)(c) applies to the claimant, if he then ceases, for a period of 56 days or less, to be incapable, or to be treated as incapable, of work, that paragraph shall, on his again becoming so incapable, or so treated as incapable, of work at the end of that period, immediately thereafter apply to him for so long as he remains incapable, or is treated as remaining incapable, of work.

[F38(12A) For the purposes of paragraph (11), once paragraph (11)(ca) applies to the claimant, if he then ceases, for a period of 84 days or less, to have, or to be treated as having, limited capability for work, that paragraph is, on his again having, or being treated as having, limited capability for work at the end of that period, immediately thereafter to apply to him for so long as he has, or is treated as having, limited capability for work.]

(13) For the purposes of paragraphs (6) and (8)(a), a person is disabled if he is a person—

(a)in respect of whom disability living allowance is payable, or has ceased to be payable solely because he is a patient;

[F39(aa)in respect of whom child disability payment is payable;]

[F40(b)who is certified as severely sight impaired or blind by a consultant ophthalmologist;]

(c)who ceased to be [F41certified as severely sight impaired or blind] within the period beginning 28 weeks before the first Monday in September following that person's fifteenth birthday and ending on the day preceding the first Monday in September following that person's sixteenth birthday[F42; or

(d)in respect of whom personal independence payment is payable, or [F43has ceased to be payable solely by virtue of] regulations made under section 86(1) (hospital in-patients) of the 2012 Act][F44; F45...

[F46(da)in respect of whom adult disability payment is payable, or has ceased to be payable solely by virtue of regulation 28 (effect of admission to hospital on ongoing entitlement to Adult Disability Payment) of the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022; or]

(e)in respect of whom armed forces independence payment is payable.]

(14) For the purposes of paragraph (1) a person on maternity leave, paternity leave[F47, adoption leave[F48, shared parental leave or parental bereavement leave]] shall be treated as if he is engaged in remunerative work for the period specified in paragraph (15) (“the relevant period”) provided that—

(a)in the week before the period of maternity leave, paternity leave[F49, adoption leave [F50, shared parental leave or parental bereavement leave]] began he was in remunerative work;

(b)the claimant is incurring relevant child care charges within the meaning of paragraph (5); and

(c)he is entitled to statutory maternity pay under section 164 of the Act, F51[F52... F53... additional statutory paternity pay by virtue of section 171ZEA or 171ZEB of the Act] F54, statutory adoption pay by virtue of section 171ZL of the Act F55[F56, statutory shared parental pay by virtue of section 171ZU or 171ZV of the Act] [F57, statutory parental bereavement pay by virtue of section 171ZZ6 of the Act] or maternity allowance under section 35 of the Act.

(15) The relevant period shall begin on the day on which the person's maternity leave, paternity leave[F58, parental bereavement leave] or adoption leave commences and shall end on—

(a)the date that leave ends;

(b)if no child care element of working tax credit is in payment on the date that entitlement to maternity allowance, statutory maternity pay, F59[F60... statutory paternity pay][F61, statutory adoption pay[F62, statutory shared parental pay or statutory parental bereavement pay]] ends, the date that entitlement ends; or

(c)if a child care element of working tax credit is in payment on the date that entitlement to maternity allowance, statutory maternity pay, F63[F60... statutory paternity pay][F64, statutory adoption pay[F65, statutory shared parental pay or statutory parental bereavement pay]] ends, the date that entitlement to that award of the child care element of working tax credit ends,

whichever shall occur first.

(16) In paragraph (15), “child care element” of working tax credit means the element of working tax credit prescribed under section 12 of the Tax Credits Act F66 (child care element).

Textual Amendments

F1Sections 30A to 30E were inserted by the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994 (c. 18). Section 30A(1) was substituted by, and section 30A(2) was amended by, the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c. 30). Section 30B(3) was amended by the Pensions Act 1995 (c. 26) and the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c. 21). Section 30C(5) was amended by the Tax Credits Act 1999 (c. 10) and substituted by the Tax Credits Act 2002.

F3S.I. 1987/1967. Regulation 4ZA was inserted by S.I. 1996/206. Schedule 1B was inserted by S.I. 1996/1517. The relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1997/2197, S.I. 2000/636, S.I. 2000/1981, S.I. 2001/3070 and S.I. 2002/2689.

F5S.I. 1975/ 556.

F9 1989 c. 41; Part XA (comprising sections 79A to 79X) was inserted by section 79 of the Care Standards Act 2000 (c. 14).

F11Schedule 9A was inserted by section 79 of and Schedule 3 to the Care Standards Act 2000.

F18Section 171E was inserted by section 6 of the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994 (c. 18).

F25Paragraph 2 was amended by the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994.

F32Words in reg. 31(11)(e) substituted (1.4.2014 for specified purposes, 7.4.2014 in so far as not already in force) by The Housing Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/213), regs. 1(3), 4(2)(a)

F40Reg. 31(13)(b) substituted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(2) of the amending S.I.) by The Universal Credit and Miscellaneous Amendments (No.2) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/2888), regs. 1(1), 3(6)(a)(i)

F41Words in reg. 31(13)(c) substituted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(2) of the amending S.I.) by The Universal Credit and Miscellaneous Amendments (No.2) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/2888), regs. 1(1), 3(6)(a)(ii)

F43Words in reg. 31(13)(d) substituted (1.4.2014 for specified purposes, 7.4.2014 in so far as not already in force) by The Housing Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/213), regs. 1(3), 4(2)(b)

F52Words in reg. 31(14)(c) substituted (1.4.2012 for specified purposes, 2.4.2012 in so far as not already in force) by The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/757), regs. 1(2), 8(4)(a)

F54Sections 171ZA and 171ZB were inserted into the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 by section 2 of the Employment Act 2002 (c. 22).

F55Section 171ZL was inserted by section 4 of the Employment Act 2002.

F60Words in reg. 31(15)(b)(c) substituted (1.4.2012 for specified purposes, 2.4.2012 in so far as not already in force) by The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/757), regs. 1(2), 8(4)(b)