Draft Regulations laid before Parliament under section 37(2) of the Jobseekers Act 1995, for approval by resolution of each House of Parliament.

2004 No.

SOCIAL SECURITY

The Social Security (Basic Skills Training Pilot) Regulations 2004

Made2004

Coming into force5th April 2004

Whereas a draft of this instrument was laid before Parliament in accordance with section 37(2) of the Jobseekers Act 19951 and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament;

Whereas 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;

Now, therefore, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 19(10)(c), 29(1) and (3), 35(1) and 36(2) and (4) of the Jobseekers Act 19953 and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, after reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee4, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and duration1.

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Basic Skills Training Pilot) Regulations 2004 and shall come into force on 5th April 2004.

(2)

These Regulations shall cease to have effect on 4th April 2005 unless revoked with effect from an earlier date.

Interpretation2.

(1)

In these Regulations—

“appropriate office” means an office, by whatever name it is from time to time known, of the Department for Work and Pensions which is identified in the Schedule to these Regulations by reference to its region, pilot area and name as at the date these Regulations come into force;

“benefit” means a jobseeker’s allowance or any earnings credited to a person in accordance with regulation 8A of the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 19755;

“basic skills training” means a scheme provided in pursuance of arrangements made by the Secretary of State under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 19736 for the attainment of appropriate literacy skills, language skills or numeracy skills (whether all or any of them) and which, in respect of any individual, is intended to last for a period not exceeding 12 months.

(2)

For the purpose of calculating the period of not less than six months referred to in regulation 3(2)(c) of these Regulations, a period of interruption to the receipt of benefit not exceeding 28 days, or any periods of such interruption which added together do not exceed a total of 28 days, shall be disregarded.

(3)

In respect of any period throughout which a member of a joint-claim couple is receiving a joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance, the other member of that couple shall, for the purposes of regulation 3(2)(c) of these Regulations, also be treated as receiving benefit throughout that period.

Application of basic skills training3.

(1)

In relation to a person to whom paragraph (2) applies, “training scheme” in sections 19 and 20A of the Jobseekers Act 19957 (circumstances in which a jobseeker’s allowance is not payable and denial or reduction of joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance) means, in addition to the training schemes listed in regulation 75 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 19968 (interpretation), basic skills training.

(2)

This paragraph shall apply to any person—

(a)

who, on or after 5th April 2004, but before 4th April 2005, attends an appropriate office pursuant to a notification given or sent under regulation 23 or 23A of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 19969 (attendance and attendance by members of a joint-claim couple); and

(b)

who, on the day he so attends, is aged 18 years or over and less than 60; and

(c)

who has been receiving benefit for a period of not less than six months; and

(d)

in respect of whom the Secretary of State considers it appropriate that he should participate in basic skills training; and

(e)

who has been given or sent a notice in writing by an employment officer advising him that if he fails to participate in such training, his jobseeker’s allowance could cease to be payable or could be payable at a lower rate.

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

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,

Department for Work and Pensions

2004

SCHEDULE

Regulation 2(1)

Region	Pilot Area	Name of Office of the Department for Work and Pensions
South West	Dorset	Blandford Boscombe Bournemouth Bridport Christchurch Dorchester Poole Shaftesbury Wareham Winton
North West	Bolton & Bury	Bolton (Blackhorse Street) Bolton (Elizabeth House) Bolton (Great Moor Street) Bury (Silver Street) Farnworth Horwich Prestwich Radcliffe Westhoughton
	Cheshire & Warrington	Chester (Chantry House) Chester (Gateway) Crewe (Market Street) Crewe (Wellington House) Congleton Ellesmere Port Macclesfield Nantwich Neston Northwich (Hartford House) Northwich (London Road) Sandbach Warrington Warrington New Town Wilmslow Winsford
West Midlands	Wolverhampton & Walsall	Aldridge Bilston Brownhills Darlaston Walsall (Bayard House) Walsall (Bridle Court) Walsall (Government Buildings) Wednesfield Willenhall Wolverhampton (Chapel Court) Wolverhampton (Crown House)
East of England	Bedfordshire	Bedford Biggleswade Dunstable Leighton Buzzard Luton
London	South London	Beckenham Bromley Colliers Wood Croydon Kingston Mitcham New Addington Orpington Purley Sutton Thornton Heath Twickenham Wimbledon
North East	Durham	Barnard Castle Bishop Auckland Chester-le-Street Consett Crook Durham Newton Aycliffe Peterlee Spennymoor Stanley Wingate
Yorkshire and Humberside	Hull and East Riding	Beverley Bransholme Bridlington Driffield Goole Hessle Hull (Essex House) Hull (Market Place)
	Calderdale and Kirklees	Batley Brighouse Dewsbury (Crown Buildings) Dewsbury (Empire House) Halifax (Crossfield House) Halifax (Horton Street) Huddersfield (Castle House) Huddersfield (Crown House) Spen Valley Todmorden
South East	Berkshire	Bracknell (Eagle House) Bracknell (Fitzwilliam House) Maidenhead Newbury (Cromwell House) Newbury (West House) Reading (Adelphi House) Reading (Princes House) Slough (Prince’s House) Slough (Upton Lodge) Wokingham
	Kent	Ashford (International House) Ashford (Kent House) Broadstairs Canterbury (Northgate House) Canterbury (Nutwood House) Chatham (Brook House) Chatham (Crown House) Dartford (Crown Buildings) Dartford (Lowfield Street) Deal Dover Faversham Folkestone Gillingham Gravesend (New Road) Gravesend (The Grove) Herne Bay Maidstone (Gabriels Hill) Maidstone (Medvale House) Maidstone (Rocky Hill) Margate New Romney Ramsgate Rochester Sevenoaks Sheerness Sittingbourne (Roman House) Sittingbourne (St Michael’s House) Thanet Tonbridge Tunbridge Wells (Northgate) Tunbridge Wells (Vale House) Whitstable
East Midlands	Lincolnshire and Rutland	Boston Gainsborough Grantham Holbeach Horncastle Lincoln (Crown House) Lincoln (High Street) Louth Mablethorpe Oakham Skegness Sleaford Spalding Stamford

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations establish a pilot scheme relating to persons who claim a jobseeker’s allowance and who fulfil the criteria specified in regulation 3 as to age, period over which they have been receiving benefit and the location of appropriate offices at which they claim benefit, as identified in the Schedule to these Regulations.

The pilot scheme is to last for a period of one year from 5th April 2004 to 4th April 2005 unless these Regulations are revoked with effect from an earlier date.

The Regulations add to the list of training schemes in regulation 75 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/207) with the effect that if such a person without good cause refuses or fails to participate in the training scheme known as basic skills training, or gives up his place on such a scheme, he will be subject to a sanction under section 19 or 20A of the Jobseekers Act 1995 (c. 18) and regulation 69 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. The effect of this will be the loss or reduction of his jobseeker’s allowance for a period of two weeks or four weeks (regulation 3).

The Report of the Social Security Advisory Committee dated 27th November 2003 on the proposals referred to them in respect of these Regulations, together with a statement showing the extent to which the proposals 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 Command Paper Cm. 6116 published by The Stationery Office Ltd.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on the costs of business.