# The Disability Working Allowance (General) Regulations 1991, Regulation 51A: Treatment of childcare charges

Extent: E+W+S

(1) This regulation applies where a claimant is incurring or in the case of a claimant to whom paragraph (6A) applies, will incur relevant childcare charges and—
(a) is a lone parent and is engaged in remunerative work;
(b) is a member of a couple both of whom are engaged in remunerative work; or
(c) is a member of a couple where one member is engaged in remunerative work and the other member is incapacitated.
(2) In this regulation—
“disabled child” means a child to whom paragraph (1A) of regulation 51 applies;
“local authority” means, in relation to England, the council of a county or district, a metropolitan district, a London Borough, the Common Council of the City of London or the Council of the Isles of Scilly, in relation to Wales, the council of a county or county borough or, in relation to Scotland, a regional, islands or district council;
“relevant childcare charges” means the charges paid by the claimant for care provided for any child of the claimant’s family in respect of the period beginning on that child’s date of birth and ending on the day preceding the first Tuesday in September following that child’s fifteenth birthday or, if the child is a disabled child, sixteenth birthday, other than charges paid in respect of the child’s compulsory education or charges paid by a claimant to a partner or by a partner to a claimant in respect of any child for whom either or any of them is responsible in accordance with regulation 9 (circumstances in which a person is to be treated as responsible or not responsible for another), where the care is provided—
(a) by persons registered under section 71 of the Children Act 1989 (registration of child minders and persons providing day care for young children);
(b) for children in respect of the period beginning on their eighth birthday and ending on the day preceding the first Tuesday in September following their fifteenth birthday or, if the child is a disabled child, sixteenth birthday, out of school hours, by a school on school premises or by a local authority; or
(c) by a childcare scheme operating on Crown property where registration under section 71 of the Children Act 1989 is not required, or
(d) in schools or establishments which are exempted from registration under section 71 of the Children Act 1989 by virtue of section 71(16) of and paragraph 3 or 4 of Schedule 9 to that Act, or
(e) by a child care provider approved by an accredited organisation within the meaning given by regulation 4 of the Tax Credit (New Category of Child Care Provider) Regulations 1999.
and shall be calculated on a weekly basis in accordance with paragraphs (3) to (6) or, in the case of a claimant to whom paragraph (6A) applies, with paragraphs (6B) and (6C).
“school term-time” means the school term-time applicable to the child for whom care is provided.
(2ZA) A person is not engaged in remunerative work for the purposes of paragraph (1) where that person is treated as being in remunerative work by virtue only of either—
(a) paragraph (5)(c) of regulation 6 (recognised, customary or other holiday) in circumstances where the absence from work arises from the need to care for a recently adopted child or young person or from the acquisition of a surrogate child, or
(b) paragraph (5)(e) of that regulation (woman on maternity leave),
unless immediately prior to the adoption of the child or young person or the granting of the parental order for the surrogate child or the birth of the child (as the case may be) that person was paying, or had incurred, relevant childcare charges for another child or other children of her household.
(2A) In paragraph (2)—
(a) the age of a child referred to in that paragraph shall be determined by reference to the age of the child at the date on which the period under section 129(6) of the Contributions and Benefits Act (period of award) begins;
(b) “the first Tuesday in September" means the Tuesday which first occurs in the month of September in any year.
(c) in the definition of “relevant childcare charges” the words “charges paid” shall be taken to include charges which will be incurred and to which paragraph (6A) applies.
(d) where paragraph (2ZA) applies, in the definition of “relevant childcare charges” the references to a child of the claimant’s family do not include references to any child born or child or young person adopted or surrogate child acquired during the period of absence or maternity leave.
(3) Subject to paragraphs (4) to (6), relevant childcare charges shall be calculated in accordance with the formula—
X+Y52where—
X is the average weekly charge paid for childcare in the most recent 4 complete weeks which fall in school term-time in respect of the child or children concerned, multiplied by 39; and
Y is the average weekly charge paid for childcare in the most recent 2 complete weeks which fall out of school term-time in respect of that child or those children, multiplied by 13.
(4) Subject to paragraph (5), where childcare charges are being incurred in respect of a child who does not yet attend school, the relevant childcare charges shall mean the average weekly charge paid for care provided in respect of that child in the most recent 4 complete weeks.
(5) Where in any case the charges in respect of childcare are paid monthly, the average weekly charge for the purposes of paragraph (3) shall be established—
(a) where the charges are for a fixed monthly amount, by multiplying that amount by 12 and dividing the product by 52;
(b) where the charges are for variable monthly amounts, by aggregating the charges for the previous 12 months and dividing the total by 52.
(6) In a case where there is no information or insufficient information for establishing the average weekly charge paid for childcare in accordance with paragraphs (3) to (5), the average weekly charge for care shall be estimated in accordance with information provided by the child minder or person providing the care or, if such information is not available, in accordance with information provided by the claimant.
(6A) Where a claimant—
(a) has entered into an agreement for the provision of childcare; and
(b) will under that agreement incur relevant childcare charges in respect of childcare during the period of the disabled person’s tax credit award,
the weekly charge for childcare shall be calculated in accordance with paragraphs (6B) and (6C), based upon a written estimate of the relevant future charges provided by the claimant and child minder or other childcare provider.
(6B) Subject to paragraph (6C), relevant childcare charges which fall under paragraph (6A) shall be calculated in accordance with the formula—
X+Y52where—
X is the weekly estimate provided by the child minder or other childcare provider for childcare in those weeks which will fall in school term-time in respect of the child or children concerned, multiplied by 39; and
Y is the weekly estimate provided by the child minder or other childcare provider for childcare in those weeks which will fall out of school term-time in respect of the child or children concerned, multiplied by 13.
(6C) Where relevant childcare charges fall under paragraph (6A) and they are in respect of a child who does not attend school, the relevant childcare charges shall mean the weekly estimate provided by the child minder or other childcare provider multiplied by the number of weeks during the period of the disabled person’s tax credit award in which relevant childcare charges will be paid, divided by 26.
(7) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c) the other member of a couple is incapacitated where—
(a) either council tax benefit or housing benefit is payable under Part VII of the Contributions and Benefits Act to the other member or his partner and the applicable amount of the person entitled to the benefit includes—
(i) a disability premium; or
(ii) a higher pensioner premium by virtue of the satisfaction of—
(aa) in the case of council tax benefit, paragraph 11(2)(b) of Schedule 1 to the Council Tax Benefit (General) Regulations 1992;
(bb) in the case of housing benefit, paragraph 10(2)(b) of Schedule 2 to the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987,
on account of the other member’s incapacity or either regulation 13A(1)(c) of the Council Tax Benefit (General) Regulations 1992 (treatment of childcare charges) or, as the case may be, regulation 21A(1)(c) of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987 (treatment of childcare charges) applies in that person’s case;
(b) there is payable in respect of him one or more of the following pensions or allowances—
(i) invalidity pension under section 33, 40 or 41 of the Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;
(ii) attendance allowance under section 64 of that Act;
(iii) severe disablement allowance under section 68 of that Act;
(iv) disability living allowance under section 71 of that Act;
(v) increase of disablement pension under section 104 of that Act;
(vi) a pension increase under a war pension scheme or an industrial injuries scheme which is analogous to an allowance or increase of disablement pension under head (ii), (iv) or (v) above;
(c) a pension or allowance to which head (ii), (iv), (v) or (vi) of sub-paragraph (b) above refers was payable on account of his incapacity but has ceased to be payable in consequence of his becoming a patient within the meaning of regulation 10(3)(a) (membership of the same household);
(d) sub-paragraph (b) or (c) above would apply to him if the legislative provisions referred to in those sub-paragraphs were provisions under any corresponding enactment having effect in Northern Ireland; or
(e) he has an invalid carriage or other vehicle provided to him by the Secretary of State under section 5(2)(a) of and Schedule 2 to the National Health Service Act 1977 or under section 46 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 or provided by the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland under Article 30(1) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/2887/regulation/51A (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/disability-working-allowance-general-regulations-1991/regulation-51A
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.