The Employment Zones Regulations 2000

Statutory Instruments

2000 No. 721

F1 SOCIAL SECURITY

The Employment Zones Regulations 2000

Made

10th March 2000

Laid before Parliament

13th March 2000

Coming into force

3rd April 2000

The Secretary of State for Education and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 60 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999M1 and section 19 of the Jobseekers Act 1995M2 , hereby makes the following RegulationsM3 :

Textual Amendments

F1 Regulations revoked by S.I. 2003/2438, art. 8 (as inserted (26.4.2004) by Employment Zones (Amendment) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/1043), regs. 1, 2(f))

Marginal Citations

M1 1999 c. 30.

M2 1995 c. 18.

M3 These regulations are made within 6 months of the coming into force of section 60 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 and accordingly, by reason of section 173(5)(a) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (1992 c. 5), reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee by the Secretary of State of his proposal to make the regulations is not required notwithstanding the provisions contained in Sections 170 and 172 of that Act, as amended by paragraph 81(a) of Schedule 12 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999.

Commencement and citation E+W+S

1.  These regulations may be cited as the Employment Zones Regulations 2000 and shall come into force on the 3rd of April 2000.

Interpretation E+W+S

2.  In these regulations–

• “the Act" means the Jobseekers Act 1995;

• “an action plan" means a plan setting out the action which a claimant will take with a view to securing employment or improving his prospects of securing employment;

• “an employment zone" means an area within Great Britain designated by these regulations for the purposes of section 60 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 and “an employment zone programme" means a programme established for such an area or areas designed to assist claimants for a jobseeker’s allowance to obtain sustainable employment;

• “an initial interview" means an interview with an employment officer following notice sent to the claimant to attend for the purpose of initiating participation in an employment zone programme.

Areas designated as employment zones E+W+S

3.  The areas within Great Britain designated as employment zones are the 15 areas comprising the [F2 districts, London boroughs, counties and county boroughs] set out in the schedule [F3 as the boundaries to those districts, London boroughs, counties and county boroughs stand on the 5th June 2000].

Textual Amendments

F2 Words in reg. 3 substituted (5.6.2000) by The Employment Zones (Amendment) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1279), regs. 1, 2(1)

F3 Words in reg. 3 added (5.6.2000) by The Employment Zones (Amendment) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1279), regs. 1, 2(1)

Meaning of employment E+W+S

4.  For the purposes of section 60 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 “employment" means employment whether under a contract of service or a contract of apprenticeship, or under a contract for services, or otherwise than under a contract, and includes in particular self employment and the holding of an office.

Eligibility for participation in an employment zone programme E+W+S

5.  A claimant for a jobseeker’s allowance is eligible to participate in an employment zone programme if he is ordinarily resident within an employment zone on the day when notice to attend an initial interview is sent to him pursuant to regulation 23 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 M4 .

Marginal Citations

M4 S.I. 1996/207.

The first stage E+W+S

6.  A claimant begins to participate in the first stage of an employment zone programme on the day when he attends an initial interview and ceases to participate on such day as may be specified by an employment officer by notice to the claimant in writing.

Modifications to the provisions of the Act which apply to claimants during the first stage E+W+S

7.  In relation to a claimant participating in the first stage of an employment zone programme the requirements for receipt of a jobseeker’s allowance set out in subsection 1(2) of the Act are modified by the suspension of the requirement for the claimant to have entered into a jobseeker’s agreement which remains in force.

The Second Stage E+W+S

8.  A Claimant begins to participate in the second stage of an employment zone programme on such date as may be specified by an employment officer by notice to the claimant in writing and ceases to participate on such date as may be specified by an employment officer by notice to the claimant in writing.

Modifications to the provisions of the Act which apply to claimants during the second stage E+W+S

9.  In relation to a claimant participating in the second stage of an employment zone programme the requirements for receipt of a jobseeker’s allowance set out in subsection 1(2) of the Act are modified by the suspension of the requirements for the claimant–

(a) to be available for employment,

(b) to have entered into a jobseeker’s agreement which remains in force, and

(c) to be actively seeking employment.

Amendment of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 E+W+S

10.—(1) The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 shall be amended in accordance with the following paragraph of this regulation.

(2) At the end of regulation 75(1)(a) (interpretation) there shall be inserted the word “and" followed by the following sub-paragraph

“(iii) an employment zone programme, being a programme established for one or more areas designated pursuant to section 60 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 and subject to the Employment Zones Regulations 2000”.

Tessa Jowell

Minister of State,

Department for Education and Employment

10th March 2000

[F4 SCHEDULE E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F4 Sch. substituted (5.6.2000) by The Employment Zones (Amendment) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1279), reg. 1, Sch.

Employment Zone	districts, London boroughs, counties and county boroughs
Birmingham	The metropolitan district of Birmingham.
Brent	The London borough of Brent [F5 the London borough of Barnet, the London borough of Camden and the City of Westminster ]
Brighton and Hove	The non-metropolitan district of Brighton and the non-metropolitan district of Hove [F6 and the district of Adur].
Doncaster	The metropolitan district of Doncaster [F7 and the metropolitan district of Rotherham] [F8 and the non-metropolitan district of Bassetlaw].
Glasgow	The metropolitan district of Glasgow.
Haringey	The London borough of Haringey.
Liverpool and Sefton	The metropolitan district of Liverpool and the metropolitan district of Sefton.
[F9 Heads of the Valleys and Caerphilly	The county borough of Blaenau Gwent, the county borough of Caerphilly, the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil and the county borough of Torfaen]
Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland	The non-metropolitan district of Middlesbrough and the non-metropolitan district of Redcar and Cleveland.
Newham	The London borough of Newham.
North West Wales	The county borough of Conwy, the county of Denbighshire, the county of Anglesey, the county borough of Wrexham and the county of [F10 Gwynedd].
Nottingham	The non-metropolitan district of Nottingham.
Plymouth	The non-metropolitan district of Plymouth [F11 and the districts of Caradon, South Hams and West Devon]
Southwark	The London borough of Southwark.
Tower Hamlets	The London borough of Tower Hamlets.]

Textual Amendments

F5 Words in Sch. added (26.2.2001) by Employment Zones (Amendment) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/261), regs. 1, 2(a)

F6 Words in Sch. added (13.8.2001) by The Employment Zones (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/2521), regs. 1, 2(a)

F7 Words in Sch. added (26.2.2001) by Employment Zones (Amendment) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/261), regs. 1, 2(b)

F8 Words inserted in Sch. by reg. 2 of S.I. 2001/1865 as from 2.7.01.

F9 Words inserted in Sch. by reg. 2 of S.I. 2001/1865 as from 2.7.01.

F10 Words in Sch. substituted (5.6.2000) by The Employment Zones (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1305), regs. 1, 2

F11 Words in Sch. added (13.8.2001) by The Employment Zones (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/2521), regs. 1, 2(b)

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations designate 15 areas in Great Britain to be employment zones within which employment zone programmes can be run. The purpose of such a programme is to assist participants living within a zone and claiming a jobseeker’s allowance to obtain sustainable employment. Employment is defined widely to include any paid work whether carried out for an employer or in the course of any trade, business, profession, partnership, office or vocation.

Regulation 3 designates the areas by reference to lists of wards and electoral divisions set out in the schedule.

Regulation 4 contains the definition of employment.

Regulation 5 provides that eligibility to participate depends upon living within a zone.

Regulation 6 defines a first stage of participation during which Regulation 7 relaxes a requirement of the Jobseekers Act 1995 so as to allow participants to continue to be eligible to receive a jobseeker’s allowance without maintaining a jobseeker’s agreement.

Regulation 8 defines a second stage of participation during which Regulation 9 relaxes additional requirements of the Jobseekers Act 1995 so as to allow participants to continue to be eligible to receive a jobseeker’s allowance without remaining available for employment and without actively seeking employment.

Regulation 10 amends regulation 75 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 so as to apply the sanction provisions set out in section 19 of the Jobseekers Act 1995 to defaults arising in connection with employment zone programmes.

These regulations do not impose any charge on business.