Social Security Regulations Amendments consultations

[Amethyst]

15/05/08 Current consultation: The Social Security (Lone Parents and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2008

http://www.ssac.org.uk/pdf/consultation_140508.pdf

Draft regulations

This is the one that changes the age the youngest child needs to reach to stop lone parents entitlement to income support. This is reducing periodically down through 12, 10 and 7 yrs of age. The document is the response by the SSAC, and the second is the draft proposals. These have now been implemented.

• starting in November 2008 lone parents with a youngest child aged at least 12 will no longer be entitled to Income Support (IS) solely on the grounds of being a lone parent from, and from October 2009 when their youngest child reaches age 10 and from October 2010 when their youngest child reaches age 7;
• to amend Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) Regulations so that Jobcentre Plus staff must consider whether appropriate and affordable childcare is available when determining whether a person with caring responsibilities in relation to a child had just cause for leaving employment or had good cause for failing to take up paid employment or to comply with a jobseeker’s direction;
• to amend the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) Regulations so that lone parents previously on IS with the disability premium do not have to serve the ESA assessment phase and will receive the work-related activity component from the start of their ESA claim;
• to amend JSA Regulations so that Jobcentre Plus staff will have additional flexibilities to enable parents to be treated as available for, or actively seeking, work in certain circumstances;
• to introduce arrangements for certain existing lone parents who are also full time students, completing a full time course on New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP) or participating in an approved scheme to continue to claim IS for a limited period;
• to amend the existing JSA hardship regime to include lone parents as a vulnerable group; and
• to introduce mandatory quarterly work-focused interviews (QWFIs) for lone parents in the last year of their eligibility for IS. This will apply to lone parents on IS with a youngest child aged 9 to 11 from November 2008, to lone parents with a youngest child aged 6 to 9 from October 2009 and to lone parents with a youngest child aged 6 from October 2010.

Closed 04/04/08 Consultation: The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No…) Regulations 2008 Closed 28/04/08 Supplementary memorandam Closed