The Child Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025

Statutory Instruments

2025 No. 818

SOCIAL SECURITY

The Child Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025

Made

8th July 2025

Laid before Parliament

10th July 2025

Coming into force

1st September 2025

The Treasury make these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 142(2) and 175(1A), (3), (4) and (5) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(1) and sections 138(2) and 171(1), (3), (4) and (5) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(2), now exercisable by them(3).

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Child Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025 and come into force on 1st September 2025.

Amendment of the Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2006

2.—(1) The Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2006(4) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 1 (citation, commencement and interpretation) in paragraph (3) in the definition of “full-time education”—

(a) omit “except in regulation 3(2)(ab)”;

(b) for paragraph (a) substitute—

“(a) is education undertaken in pursuit of a course, where the time spent during term time in receiving tuition, engaging in practical work, or supervised study, or taking examinations—

(i) on average exceeds 12 hours per week, or

(ii) in the case of a person who suffers from an illness or physical or mental disability, is any amount of hours appropriate for that person’s individual circumstances, and”.

(3) In regulation 3 (education and training condition)—

(a) in paragraph (2)—

(i) in sub-paragraph (a) omit paragraphs (i) and (ii);

(ii) omit sub-paragraph (ab);

(iii) in sub-paragraph (b) omit “or (ab)”;

(b) omit paragraphs (3) and (5);

(c) in paragraph (4) omit “, (2)(ab)”.

Nicholas Dakin

Jeff Smith

Two of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury

8th July 2025

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend regulations 1 and 3 of the Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2006 (“the CB(G)Rs”).

Regulation 2 of these Regulations changes the education and training condition for eligibility to child benefit. Regulation 2(2) amends the definition of “full-time education” in regulation 1(3) of the CB(G)Rs to remove the condition that a person, who is the subject of a claim, must undertake a course of education that is full-time, where they are unable to due to illness or a physical or mental disability. Regulation 2(3)(a) makes consequential amendments and omits regulation 3(2)(ab) of the CB(G)Rs, so that appropriate full-time education, within section 4 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 (c. 25), is no longer within the education and training condition. Regulation 2(3)(b) omits paragraphs (3) and (5) of regulation 3 of the CB(G)Rs to remove the condition that a qualifying young person must either have been receiving education, which is provided other than at a school or college, as a child or meet prescribed conditions. Regulation 2(3)(c) makes consequential amendments.

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

(1)

1992 c. 4. Section 142(2) was substituted by section 1(2) of the Child Benefit Act 2005 (c. 6) (“CBA 2005”). Section 175 was amended by paragraph 10 of Schedule 9 to the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (c. 14), paragraph 36 of Schedule 1 to the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994 (c. 18), paragraph 29 of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Transfer of Functions, etc.) Act 1999 (c. 2), Schedule 6 to the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c. 21) (“TCA 2002”) and Part 1 of Schedule 14 to the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c. 5).

(2)

1992 c. 7. Section 138(2) was substituted by section 2(2) of the CBA 2005. Section 171 was amended by paragraph 5 of Schedule 4 to the TCA 2002, S.I. 1993/1579 (N.I. 8), S.I. 1994/1898 (N.I. 12) and S.I. 1999/671.

(3)

The powers under section 142(2) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 were transferred to the Treasury by section 1(2) of the CBA 2005 and the powers under section 138(2) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 were transferred to the Treasury by section 2(2) of the CBA 2005.

(4)

S.I. 2006/223. Relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2007/2150, 2014/1231, 2014/2924, 2020/297.