The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Jobseeker Mandatory Activity) Pilot Regulations 2007

Citation, commencement and duration

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Jobseeker Mandatory Activity) Pilot Regulations 2007 and shall come into force on 2nd April 2007.

(2) These Regulations shall cease to have effect on 1st April 2008.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“appropriate office” means an office of the Department for Work and Pensions which is identified in the Schedule by reference to its region, district and name on 2nd April 2007, and where such an office closes, a reference in the Schedule to that office shall be construed in relation to any person as a reference to the office at which that person is required to attend instead of that office;

“benefit” means a jobseeker’s allowance or any earnings credited to a person in accordance with regulation 8A of the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 1975(1);

“the Jobseeker’s Regulations” means the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996(2);

“Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot” means the employment programme known by that name and provided in pursuance of arrangements made by or on behalf of the Secretary of State under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973(3), being a programme comprising an initial three-day work-focused course and three follow-up interviews with an employment officer, for any individual who has been claiming benefit for a continuous period of not less than six months ending on the first required entry date to any such programme.

(2) In respect of any period throughout which a member of a joint-claim couple is claiming a joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance, the other member of that couple shall, for the purposes of these Regulations, also be treated as claiming benefit throughout that period.

Application of the Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot

3.—(1) In relation to a person to whom paragraph (2) applies—

(a) regulation 69 (prescribed period for purposes of sections 19(2) and 20A(3)) of the Jobseeker’s Regulations(4) shall have effect with the following amendments—

(i) in paragraph (1)(a), for “(c) or (d)” substitute “(c), (d) or (e)”;

(ii) in paragraph (1)(b), after “regulation 75(1)(a)(i)(bb)” insert “or a case which falls within sub-paragraph (e)”; and

(iii) after paragraph (1)(d), insert the following sub-paragraph—

“(e) one week in a case where a jobseeker’s allowance is determined not to be payable in circumstances—

(i) relating to the employment programme known as the Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot, and

(ii) falling within section 19(5) or 20A(2)(a) to (c).”;

(b) for the purposes of the Jobseeker’s Regulations and sections 19 and 20A of the Jobseekers Act 1995(5), “employment programme” means, in addition to the employment programmes listed in regulation 75 (interpretation) of the Jobseeker’s Regulations(6), the Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot;

(c) regulation 75 of the Jobseeker’s Regulations shall have effect with the following paragraph inserted after paragraph (5)—

“(6) In this Part, “Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot” has the meaning it bears in regulation 2(1) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Jobseeker Mandatory Activity) Pilot Regulations 2007.”.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), this paragraph shall apply to any person whom the Secretary of State considers should participate in the Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot and who—

(a) on or after 2nd April 2007 but before 1st April 2008, attends an appropriate office pursuant to a notification given or sent under regulation 23 (attendance)(7) or 23A (attendance by members of a joint-claim couple)(8) of the Jobseeker’s Regulations;

(b) on the day he attends, is aged 25 years or over;

(c) has been claiming benefit for a continuous period of not less than six months; and

(d) has been given or sent a notice in writing by an employment officer advising him that, if he fails to participate in the Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot, his jobseeker’s allowance could cease to be payable or could be payable at a lower rate.

(3) Paragraph (2) shall cease to apply to a person from the date on which he changes address if, as a consequence of changing his address, he is notified under regulation 23 or 23A of the Jobseeker’s Regulations that he should attend at an office of the Department for Work and Pensions which is not an appropriate office for the purposes of these Regulations.

(4) However, in a case where paragraph (2) ceases to apply to a person from a particular date by virtue of paragraph (3), any relevant determination made before that date in relation to that person shall continue to have effect.

(5) In paragraph (4), “relevant determination” means a determination that—

(a) his jobseeker’s allowance is not payable under section 19 of the Jobseekers Act 1995, or

(b) he be subject to a sanction under section 20A of that Act.

Transitional provisions

4.  References in these Regulations to a person to whom regulation 3(2) applies shall include a person to whom regulation 3(2) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Jobseeker Mandatory Activity) Pilot Regulations 2005(9) applied immediately before those Regulations ceased to have effect.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Jim Murphy

Minister of State,

Department for Work and Pensions

28th March 2007