The Family Credit and Income Support (General) Amendment Regulations 1989

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 in the following respects–

(a) they provide for young persons in relevant education and for 16 and 17 year olds who of necessity are living away from their parents in certain specified circumstances to be eligible for income support (regulations 4 and 10); and increase the personal allowances for certain single claimants, couples and lone parents under 18 living away from home (regulations 5, 6 and 11);

(b) they provide in cases of trade disputes for certain payments made by local authorities to persons in, or formerly in, their care to be treated as income (regulation 7); and in other cases for the disregard of such payments (regulation 12); and, in the calculation of a student’s grant income, increase to £234 the amount of the disregard, for books and equipment (regulation 8);

(c) they extend to urgent cases eligibility to all premiums (regulation 9); and make transitional provision for persons in relevant education eligible for income support by virtue of their estrangement from their parents to continue to be so eligible notwithstanding the new tests prescribed by these regulations (regulation 13).

They also amend the Family Credit (General) Regulations 1987 to provide similar disregards to those mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) above (regulations 2 and 3).

In addition, they revoke regulation 4 of the Income Support General (Amendment) Regulations 1989 as the amendment made by that regulation has now been superseded by regulation 9(a) (regulation 14).