The Income Support (Work-Related Activity) and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2014

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations provide that lone parents of children over the age of 3 but under the age of 5 who are entitled to income support may be required to undertake work-related activity as a condition of entitlement to the full amount of benefit. “Work-related activity” is defined in section 2D(9)(d) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (c.5).

Further, these Regulations also amend provisions relating to work-focused interviews for certain lone parents contained in the Social Security (Work-focused Interviews for Lone Parents) and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1926) and the Social Security (Jobcentre Plus Interviews) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1703).

Regulation 2 provides that persons who are lone parents aged over 18, who have a youngest child aged older than 3 but younger than 5 and who are entitled to income support solely on the basis of being a lone parent may be required to undertake work-related activity as a condition of entitlement to the full amount of benefit. Regulation 2(3) provides that the requirement to undertake work-related activity must be reasonable in the opinion of the Secretary of State and that a person may not be required to apply for a job or undertake work.

Regulation 3 provides that the Secretary of State must notify persons of their requirement to undertake work-related activity under these Regulations by including the requirement in a written action plan which is given to the person. Action plans may also contain any other information that the Secretary of State considers appropriate. Regulation 5 provides that a person may request the reconsideration of an action plan and that on receipt of such a request the Secretary of State must reconsider the action plan and give his decision in writing to the person.

Regulation 4 enables the Secretary of State to determine that the time at or by which work-related activity is not to apply, or is to be treated as not having applied, if he considers it is or would be unreasonable to require the person to undertake work-related activity at or by that time.

Regulation 6 provides that the Secretary of State is to determine whether a person has failed to undertake work-related activity and if so whether the person had good cause for that failure. A person has five working days beginning with the date on which they were notified by the Secretary of State of their failure to undertake work-related activity. The period within which good cause must be provided is extended to one month if it is not reasonably possible for the claimant to have provided good cause within five working days. This regulation also provides that notices sent under this regulation are deemed served two working days after they are sent.

Regulation 7 specifies the matters to be taken into account by the Secretary of State in determining whether a person has good cause for failing to undertake work-related activity under regulation 6(2).

Regulation 8 sets out that where a person to whom regulation 2 applies fails without good cause to undertake work-related activity, their income support is paid at a reduced rate unless and until one of the circumstances in regulation 8 applies. An exception is made in the case of persons whose benefit is already being paid at a reduced rate and where the person’s benefit was last reduced not more than two weeks before the current failure. Regulation 9 provides that the reduction set out in regulation 8(1) ceases to apply where the person is no longer required to undertake work-related activity or meets the requirement to undertake work-related activity or take part in a work-focused interview.

Regulation 10 allows a person to restrict the times at which they are required to undertake work-related activity. A person is not able to exclude their child’s normal school hours or any time during which they temporarily entrust the supervision of their child to a person over the age of 18, not including health care for the child, from the times at which they are required to undertake work-related activity.

Regulation 11 provides for the contracting out of certain of the Secretary of State’s functions under Part 2 of these Regulations.

Regulation 12 makes consequential amendments to the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/991) relating to revision and supersession of decisions made under Part 2 of these Regulations and provides that a person’s income support reduced under regulation 7(1) of these Regulations is to be reduced from the first day of next the benefit week following the date on which the determination was made.

Regulations 13 and 14 amend respectively the Social Security (Work-focused Interviews for Lone Parents) and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1926) and the Social Security (Jobcentre Plus Interviews) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1703).

Regulations 13(2)(a) and 14(2)(a) provide that lone parents who are over 18, have a child aged between 1 and 4 years and who are entitled to income support solely on the basis of being a lone parent are required to take part in one or more work-focused interviews as a condition of their continuing entitlement to the full amount of income support.

Regulations 13(3) and 14(3) provide for the removal of the requirement for interviews for such claimants to take place at set intervals during the course of an award and replace this with a provision allowing officers to determine at their discretion when an interview should take place.

Regulations 13(5) and 14(4) remove the provision enabling interviews to be waived for lone parents with a child aged 1 to 4 who are entitled to income support solely on the basis of being a lone parent. Officers remain able to defer interviews until a specified date.

Regulations 13(6)(a) and 14(6)(a) provide that the period within which good cause must be shown by a claimant begins on the date that the claimant was notified of their failure to take part in an interview.

Regulations 13(6)(b) and 14(6)(b) provide that where a notification to a claimant that he has failed without good cause to attend at a work-focused interview is sent by post it is deemed received on the second working day after it is sent.

Regulations 13(6)(d) and 14(8) insert an exception to the requirement that the claimant’s benefit be reduced if they fail without good cause to attend at a work-focused interview if their benefit is already subject to a reduction and the current failure is within two weeks of that reduction first having effect.

Regulations 13(7) and 14(7) provide that a reduction of the claimant’s benefit is to cease to apply where the claimant meets the requirement to take part in a work-focused interview or undertake work-related activity.

Regulation 15 amends the Employment and Support Allowance (Work-Related Activity) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/1349) so that parents whose youngest child is aged 3 or older may be required to undertake work-related activity as a condition of entitlement to the full amount of that benefit.

Regulation 16 amends the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/376) to change the work-related requirements that can be imposed on certain claimants for that benefit. A single person who is responsible for a child aged 3 or 4 may be required to comply with a work preparation requirement (in addition to a work-focused interview requirement). Regulation 16(3) provides that such claimants do not also have to comply with a work search requirement or a work availability requirement. Regulation 17 amends the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/379) to make the same change for that benefit as regulation 16(2) makes for Universal Credit.

The report of the Social Security Advisory Committee dated 9th October 2013 in relation to the Secretary of State’s proposal to make these Regulations, together with a statement showing the extent to which these Regulations give effect to the recommendations of the Committee and, in so far as they do not give effect to them, the reasons why not, are contained in an Act Paper published by The Stationery Office Ltd at www.tso.co.uk .

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on businesses and civil society organisations. The instrument has no impact on the public sector.