The Universal Credit (Local Welfare Provision Disregard) (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Statutory Instruments

2022 No. 448

Social Security

The Universal Credit (Local Welfare Provision Disregard) (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Made

12th April 2022

Laid before Parliament

13th April 2022

Coming into force

4th May 2022

The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 42(2) and (3) of, and paragraph 4(1) and (3)(a) of Schedule 1 to, the Welfare Reform Act 2012(1).

In accordance with section 173(1)(b) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992(2), the Social Security Advisory Committee has agreed that the proposals in respect of these Regulations should not be referred to it.

Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Universal Credit (Local Welfare Provision Disregard) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 and come into force on 4th May 2022.

(2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland.

Capital disregard for local welfare provision

2.—(1) The Universal Credit Regulations 2013(3) are amended as follows.

(2) After the definition of “local authority” in regulation 2 (interpretation), insert—

““local welfare provision” means occasional financial or other assistance given by a local authority, the Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers, or a person authorised to exercise any function of, or provide a service to, them, to or in respect of individuals for the purpose of—

(a)

meeting, or helping to meet, an immediate short term need—

(i)

arising out of an exceptional event, or exceptional circumstances; and

(ii)

that requires to be met in order to avoid a risk to the well-being of an individual; or

(b)

enabling individuals to establish or maintain a settled home, where those individuals have been or, without the assistance, might otherwise be—

(i)

in prison, hospital, a residential care establishment or other institution; or

(ii)

homeless or otherwise living an unsettled way of life;”.

(3) In Schedule 10 (capital to be disregarded), after paragraph 18(4), insert—

“18A.   A payment received within the past 12 months by way of local welfare provision including arrears and payments in lieu of local welfare provision.”.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Mims Davies

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Work and Pensions

12th April 2022

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/376) to provide that certain payments made by local government for welfare purposes should be disregarded as capital and therefore not be taken into account for the purposes of calculating entitlement to Universal Credit.

This disregard will apply to such a payment for the period of 12 months from the date the payment is received.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.

(1)

2012 c. 5.

(2)

1992 c. 5.

(3)

S.I. 2013/376.

(4)

Paragraph 18 was amended by S.I. 2019/1314.