The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 16 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) 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, by reference to the cases set out in articles 3 and 4. This Order also brings into force section 139 of the Act, which relates to child support maintenance.

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 (“the No. 9 Order”) in relation to four different cases.

Under article 3(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 claimant claims UC on or after 24th February 2014 in respect of a period that begins on or after 24th February 2014 and, at the time that the claim is made, resides in a “No. 6 relevant district” (the “No. 6 relevant districts” are described in Part 1 of the Schedule). Other conditions (“Pathfinder Group conditions”) for making a claim for UC are set out in the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/386).

Under article 3(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 24th February 2014 in respect of a period that begins on or after 24th February 2014 and provides incorrect information as to their residence in a No. 6 relevant district, but this is only discovered once payments of UC have been made.

Sub-paragraphs (c) and (d) of article 3(2) make identical provision to sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of article 3(2) in relation to claims that are made on or after 7th April 2014 in respect of a period that begins on or after 7th April 2014 and in relation to residence in a No. 7 relevant district.

Under article 3(3), the day appointed for the commencement of the UC provisions in the above cases is the first day of the period in respect of which the claim is made or treated as made.

Paragraphs (4) and (5) of article 3 apply the provisions of paragraphs (5) and (6) of article 3 of the No. 9 Order to the cases referred to in paragraph (2) of article 3.

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

Under article 4(2)(a), the amending provisions come into force in relation to a claim for UC, an employment and support allowance (“ESA”) or a jobseeker's allowance (“JSA”), and any award that is made in respect of the claim, where a person claims UC, ESA or JSA on or after 24th February 2014 in respect of a period that begins on or after 24th February 2014 and, at the time that the claim is made, resides in a No. 6 relevant district and meets the Pathfinder Group conditions.

Under article 4(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 the claimant claims UC on or after 24th February 2014 in respect of a period that begins on or after 24th February 2014 and provides incorrect information as to their residence in a No. 6 relevant district, or as to their meeting the Pathfinder Group conditions, but this is only discovered once payments of UC have been made.

Sub-paragraphs (c) and (d) of article 4(2) make identical provision to sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of article 4(2) in relation to claims that are made on or after 7th April 2014 in respect of a period that begins on or after 7th April 2014 and in relation to residence in a No. 7 relevant district.

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 or treated as made.

Paragraphs (4) to (7) of article 4 apply the provisions of paragraphs (4) and (5) of article 4, and article 5, of the No. 9 Order to the cases in paragraph (2) of article 4.

Article 5 provides that articles 6 and 9 to 22 of the No. 9 Order (transitional and transitory provisions) 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 sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of article 4(2) of the No. 9 Order, and any award made in respect of the claim.

Article 6 brings into force section 139 of the Act on the day following the day on which the Order is made. Section 139 substitutes subsections (1) and (2) of section 43 of the Child Support Act 1991 (c.48) with two new subsections. The new subsections allow for child support maintenance, arrears of child support maintenance and fees payable by a non-resident parent under section 6 of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 (c.6) to be recovered from a non-resident parent by way of deduction from benefit.