2007 No. 1082
The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Jobseeker Mandatory Activity) Pilot Regulations 2007
Made
Coming into force
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 19(2) and (10)(c), 20A(3), 29(1), (3), (4) and (5), 35(1) and 36(2) and (4) of the Jobseekers Act 19951.
These Regulations are made with a view to ascertaining whether their provisions will, or will be likely to, encourage persons to obtain work or will, or will be likely to, facilitate the obtaining by persons of work2.
A draft of these Regulations has been laid before Parliament in accordance with section 37(2) of the Jobseekers Act 1995 and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
The Social Security Advisory Committee has agreed that proposals in respect of these Regulations should not be referred to it3.
Citation, commencement and duration1
1
These Regulations may be cited as the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Jobseeker Mandatory Activity) Pilot Regulations 2007 and shall come into force on 2nd April 2007.
2
These Regulations shall cease to have effect on 1st April 2008.
Interpretation2
1
In these Regulations—
“appropriate office” means an office of the Department for Work and Pensions which is identified in the Schedule by reference to its region, district and name on 2nd April 2007, and where such an office closes, a reference in the Schedule to that office shall be construed in relation to any person as a reference to the office at which that person is required to attend instead of that office;
“benefit” means a jobseeker’s allowance or any earnings credited to a person in accordance with regulation 8A of the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 19754;
“the Jobseeker’s Regulations” means the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 19965;
“Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot” means the employment programme known by that name and provided in pursuance of arrangements made by or on behalf of the Secretary of State under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 19736, being a programme comprising an initial three-day work-focused course and three follow-up interviews with an employment officer, for any individual who has been claiming benefit for a continuous period of not less than six months ending on the first required entry date to any such programme.
2
In respect of any period throughout which a member of a joint-claim couple is claiming a joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance, the other member of that couple shall, for the purposes of these Regulations, also be treated as claiming benefit throughout that period.
Application of the Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot3
1
In relation to a person to whom paragraph (2) applies—
a
regulation 69 (prescribed period for purposes of sections 19(2) and 20A(3)) of the Jobseeker’s Regulations7 shall have effect with the following amendments—
i
in paragraph (1)(a), for “(c) or (d)” substitute “(c), (d) or (e)”;
ii
in paragraph (1)(b), after “regulation 75(1)(a)(i)(bb)” insert “or a case which falls within sub-paragraph (e)”; and
iii
after paragraph (1)(d), insert the following sub-paragraph—
e
one week in a case where a jobseeker’s allowance is determined not to be payable in circumstances—
i
relating to the employment programme known as the Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot, and
ii
falling within section 19(5) or 20A(2)(a) to (c).
b
c
regulation 75 of the Jobseeker’s Regulations shall have effect with the following paragraph inserted after paragraph (5)—
6
In this Part, “Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot” has the meaning it bears in regulation 2(1) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Jobseeker Mandatory Activity) Pilot Regulations 2007.
2
Subject to paragraph (3), this paragraph shall apply to any person whom the Secretary of State considers should participate in the Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot and who—
a
b
on the day he attends, is aged 25 years or over;
c
has been claiming benefit for a continuous period of not less than six months; and
d
has been given or sent a notice in writing by an employment officer advising him that, if he fails to participate in the Jobseeker Mandatory Activity Pilot, his jobseeker’s allowance could cease to be payable or could be payable at a lower rate.
3
Paragraph (2) shall cease to apply to a person from the date on which he changes address if, as a consequence of changing his address, he is notified under regulation 23 or 23A of the Jobseeker’s Regulations that he should attend at an office of the Department for Work and Pensions which is not an appropriate office for the purposes of these Regulations.
4
However, in a case where paragraph (2) ceases to apply to a person from a particular date by virtue of paragraph (3), any relevant determination made before that date in relation to that person shall continue to have effect.
5
In paragraph (4), “relevant determination” means a determination that—
a
his jobseeker’s allowance is not payable under section 19 of the Jobseekers Act 1995, or
b
he be subject to a sanction under section 20A of that Act.
Transitional provisions4
References in these Regulations to a person to whom regulation 3(2) applies shall include a person to whom regulation 3(2) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Jobseeker Mandatory Activity) Pilot Regulations 200512 applied immediately before those Regulations ceased to have effect.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
SCHEDULE
Region | District | Office |
|---|---|---|
East of England | Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire | Bedford Biggleswade Dunstable Leighton Buzzard Luton |
London | South London | Bexleyheath Bromley Croydon Deptford Eltham Erith Forest Hill Greenwich Kingston Lewisham Mitcham New Addington Orpington Purley Sutton Thornton Heath Twickenham Wimbledon Woolwich Arsenal Woolwich Riverside |
North West | Cheshire & Warrington | Chester Congleton Crewe Ellesmere Port Macclesfield Nantwich Neston Northwich Warrington Wilmslow Winsford |
North West | Cumbria | Barrow Carlisle Cleator Moor Cockermouth Kendal Keswick Maryport Millom Penrith Ulverston Whitehaven Workington |
Scotland | Lanarkshire & East Dunbartonshire | Airdrie Bellshill Cambuslang Cumbernauld East Kilbride Hamilton Kirkintilloch Lanark Motherwell Rutherglen |
South East | Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Abingdon Aylesbury Banbury Bletchley Chesham Didcot High Wycombe Milton Keynes Oxford Witney |
South East | Surrey & Sussex | Camberley Epsom Guildford Redhill Staines Weybridge Woking |
Wales | South East Wales | Barry Cardiff – Charles Street Cardiff – Caradog House Cardiff – Alexandra House Penarth |
West Midlands | Staffordshire | Burslem Burton Cannock Hanley Kidsgrove Lichfield Longton Newcastle under Lyme Stafford Stone Tamworth |
Yorkshire & The Humber | West Yorkshire | Batley Brighouse Castleford Dewsbury Halifax Hemsworth Huddersfield Pontefract Spen Valley Todmorden Wakefield |
(This note is not part of the Regulations)