The Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2010

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make miscellaneous amendments to the:

• Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 (“the Housing Benefit Regulations”);

• Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 (“the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations”);

• Council Tax Benefit Regulations 2006 (“the Council Tax Benefit Regulations”);

• Council Tax Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 (“the Council Tax Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations”);

• Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001 (“the Decisions and Appeals Regulations”);

• Social Security (Notification of Change of Circumstances) Regulations 2001;

• Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (War Pension Disregards) Regulations 2007.

Regulations 2(2) and 3(2) amend the definition of “Housing Act functions” in the Housing Benefit Regulations and the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations, respectively, to include a reference to current legislation.

Regulations 2(3) and 3(3) amend regulation 21(3) of the Housing Benefit Regulations and the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations to clarify that children who are being fostered by a claimant are not treated as occupying the claimant’s dwelling.

Regulation 2(4) amends regulation 83 of the Housing Benefit Regulations to clarify that where a claimant requests backdating, whether at the time of claiming or later, there is a single award of benefit for the past period. Regulation 4(2) makes a similar amendment to the Council Tax Benefit Regulations.

Regulation 2(5) amends regulation 88 of the Housing Benefit Regulations to allow local authorities more easily to accept notifications of changes of circumstances by telephone. Regulations 3(5), 4(3) and 5(5) make similar amendments to the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations, the Council Tax Benefit Regulations and the Council Tax Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations. Regulation 7(2) makes parallel amendments to the Social Security (Notification of Change of Circumstances) Regulations 2001. Regulation 7(3) further amends those Regulations to allow a person in receipt of income support or a jobseeker’s allowance to notify the Department of Work and Pensions by telephone if the change of circumstances affecting their housing benefit or council tax benefit is the fact that they or their partner is starting employment. This brings those Regulations into line with provisions in the Housing Benefit Regulations, the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations, the Council Tax Benefit Regulations and the Council Tax Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations.

Regulation 2(6) amends regulation 90 of the Housing Benefit Regulations to provide for a one month time limit for requesting a written statement of reasons for a decision by a local authority. Regulations 3(6), 4(4), 5(6) and 6(3) make similar amendments to the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations, the Council Tax Benefit Regulations, the Council Tax Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations and Decisions and Appeals Regulations.

Regulation 2(7) amends regulation 96(2) of the Housing Benefit Regulations to remove the requirement that when local authorities make a first payment of benefit to the landlord they do so by sending the claimant an instrument payable to the landlord. The amendment will allow the local authority to send payment directly to the landlord. Regulation 3(7) makes a similar amendment to the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations.

Regulation 2(8)(a) amends paragraph 3 of Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit Regulations so that the increased family premium that applies where the claimant or claimant’s partner is responsible for a child under the age of one will only apply where the claimant or claimant’s partner is in receipt of child tax credit with a higher family element. This is to allow the increased premium to be removed from the applicable amount if the higher family element in child tax credit is removed. Regulations 3(8), 4(5)(a) and 5(7) make similar amendments to the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations, the Council Tax Benefit Regulations and the Council Tax Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations.

Regulation 2(8)(b) removes unnecessary words from the table in paragraph 20(9) of Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit Regulations. Regulation 4(5)(b) makes a similar amendment to the Council Tax Benefit Regulations.

Regulation 2(9) amends paragraph 17(3) of Schedule 4 to the Housing Benefit Regulations to correct an erroneous cross-reference. Regulation 4(6) makes a similar amendment to the Council Tax Benefit Regulations.

Regulation 2(10) amends paragraph 25 of Schedule 5 to the Housing Benefit Regulations to allow for a full disregard of income from special guardianship payments. Regulation 4(7) makes a similar amendment to the Council Tax Benefit Regulations, and also corrects a numbering error.

Regulation 3(4) amends regulation 64 of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations to provide that in future, where a person claims state pension credit at the same time as housing benefit, the housing benefit claim will not be backdated for more than 3 months before the date the claim for state pension credit was made or treated as made. Regulation 5(3) makes a similar amendment to the Council Tax Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations.

Regulation 5(2) and regulation 6(2) make amendments to update legislative references. Regulation 5(4) omits regulation 56 of the Council Tax Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations, which duplicates regulation 53(1ZA).

Regulation 8 amends the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (War Pension Disregards) Regulations 2007. The Schedule to these Regulations lists the instruments which provide for the war widows’ and war disablement pensions in respect of which local authorities may modify the housing benefit and council tax benefit schemes to allow a greater disregard. The amendment adds the Army Pensions (Armed Forces Pension Scheme 1975 and Attributable Benefits Scheme) Warrant 2010 to those lists.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on the private or voluntary sector.