The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 20 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Commencement No. 9 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2014

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order brings into force provisions of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c.5) (“the Act”) that relate to universal credit (“UC”) and the abolition of income-related employment and support allowance and income-based jobseeker's allowance, in relation to the cases set out in articles 3 and 4. The Order also makes other provision as referred to in articles 6 and 7 (as to which, see below).

Article 3 brings into force provisions relating to UC in Part 1 of the Act (“the UC provisions”), as set out in Schedule 2 to the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Commencement No. 8 and Savings and Transitional Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/983 (C. 41) (“the No. 9 Order”), in relation to a number of different cases as set out below.

Under article 3(1) and (2)(a), the UC provisions come into force in relation to a claim for UC, and any award that is made in respect of the claim, where the claim is made on or after 26th November 2014 and before 20th December 2014 with respect to a period that begins on or after 26th November 2014 and, on the date on which the claim is made, the claimant resides in the “No. 28 relevant district” and complies with the “specified condition” (see article 2(1) for definitions of these terms).

Under article 3(1) and (2)(b), the UC provisions come into force in relation to a claim for UC, and any award that is made in respect of the claim, where the claimant claims UC on or after 26th November 2014 and before 20th December 2014 in respect of a period that begins on or after 26th November 2014 and provides incorrect information regarding the claimant residing in the No. 28 relevant district or meeting the specified condition, but this is only discovered once payments of UC have been made.

Under article 3(3), the day appointed for the coming into force of the UC provisions in the above cases is the first day of the period in respect of which the claim is made.

Paragraphs (4) and (5) of article 3 apply the provisions of article 3(6) and article 3A of the No. 9 Order respectively to the cases in article 3(2) of this Order.

Article 4 brings into force provisions in the Act relating to the abolition of income-related employment and support allowance and of income-based jobseeker's allowance (“the amending provisions”), in relation to a number of different cases as referred to below.

Under article 4(1) and (2)(a), the amending provisions come into force in relation to a claim for UC, and any award that is made in respect of the claim, where the claim is made on or after 26th November 2014 and before 20th December 2014 with respect to a period that begins on or after 26th November 2014 and, on the date on which the claim is made, the claimant resides in the No. 28 relevant district and meets the specified condition.

Under article 4(1) and (2)(b), the amending provisions come into force in relation to a claim for UC, and any award that is made in respect of the claim, where a claimant claims UC on or after 26th November 2014 and before 20th December 2014 in respect of a period that begins on or after 26th November 2014 and provides incorrect information regarding the claimant residing in the No. 28 relevant district or meeting the specified condition, but this is only discovered once payments of UC have been made.

Under article 4(1) and (2)(c), the amending provisions come into force in relation to a claim for an employment and support allowance (“ESA”) or a jobseeker's allowance (“JSA”), and any award that is made in respect of the claim, where the claim is made on or after 26th November 2014 and before 20th December 2014 and, on the date on which the claim is made, the claimant resides in the No. 28 relevant district and meets the specified condition.

Under article 4(1) and (2)(d), the amending provisions come into force in relation to the case of a claim for ESA or JSA where the claim is not a claim for ESA or JSA as referred to in article 4(2)(c) and where the claim is made during the “relevant period” (mainly the period when a claim for UC is being considered or an award of UC is extant).

Under article 4(3), the day appointed for the coming into force of the amending provisions in the above cases is the first day of the period in respect of which the claim is made.

Paragraphs (6) to (9) of article 4 apply the provisions of article 4(6) and (7) and article 5(1A) and (1B) and (5) to (8) of the No. 9 Order to the cases in article 4(2).

Article 5 provides that articles 9 to 22 of the No. 9 Order apply in connection with the coming into force of the amending provisions in relation to the case of a claim referred to in article 4(2), and any award made in respect of the claim, as they apply in connection with the coming into force of the amending provisions in relation to the case of a claim referred to in article 4(2)(a), (b) or (g) of the No. 9 Order, and any award made in respect of the claim.

Article 6 contains transitional provisions that provide that, save in specified cases, a person may not make a claim for housing support, income support or a tax credit on any date where, if that person made a claim for universal credit on that date, the UC provisions would come into force in relation to the claim by virtue of article 3(1) and (2)(a) of this Order. Article 6 also makes a consequential modification of regulation 6 of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1230) (exclusion of claims for certain existing benefits).

Article 7 amends articles 2 to 5 of the No. 9 Order—

(a)

to omit certain conditions that currently apply to the making of awards of UC without a claim where claimants cease to be a couple or a new couple forms, as these are no longer needed;

(b)

to clarify, in relation to provisions of the Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013 that have been amended by the Universal Credit (Digital Service) Amendment Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/2887) (the amendments apply to entitlement to universal credit that arises by virtue of claims for universal credit made by reference to residence in the No. 28 relevant district, and other cases related to such claims), which version of those provisions applies;

(c)

to omit a condition for the coming into force of the amending provisions in a case where a claim for universal credit is treated as made in consequence of a couple forming at a time when one member of the couple is entitled to an award of UC, as the condition is no longer needed in the light of the removal of conditions for the coming into force of the amending provisions in relation to claims for UC generally.