The Social Security (Incapacity, Earnings and Work Trials) Pilot Schemes Regulations 1999

These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Incapacity, Earnings and Work Trials) Pilot Schemes Regulations 1999 and shall come into force on 11th April 1999.

These Regulations, other than regulation 7 (transitional provision), shall cease to have effect on 8th April 2000, unless revoked with effect from an earlier date.

In these Regulations—

• “the Contributions and Benefits Act” means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992^f1;

• “the Incapacity General Regulations” means the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) (General) Regulations 1995^f2;

• “a pilot scheme area” means the locality of the district offices of the Department of Social Security specified in column (3) of the Schedule to these Regulations and, in relation to those district offices, the postal districts specified in column (4) of the Schedule;

• “the pilot scheme period” means any day within a period beginning on 11th April 1999 and ending on 8th April 2000; and

• “a prescribed benefit” means any benefit, allowance or advantage under the Contributions and Benefits Act (other than statutory sick pay) mentioned in section 77(8) of the Social Security Act 1998 and for which entitlement is dependent on incapacity for work.

subject to regulation 6, is residing in a pilot scheme area during any period within the pilot scheme period; and

is—

Where a person who does any work on any day in a week for which he would otherwise be treated as capable of work under regulation 16 of the Incapacity General Regulations^f1, he shall, if his earnings in that week do not exceed £15, be treated as incapable of work for that week.

For the purposes of calculating the amount of a person’s earnings under this regulation, the provisions of the Social Security Benefit (Computation of Earnings) Regulations 1996^f2 shall be treated as if they applied to this regulation.

A person to whom this regulation applies shall be treated as incapable of work on any day, in whole or in part as the case may be, on which he does any approved work in a period of incapacity for work consisting of days, or part days, as the case may be, aggregated to not more than 15 days.

This regulation applies to a person—

In this regulation—

• “approved work” means, in relation to a person, work arranged in writing by the Employment Service of the Department for Education and Employment with an employer in respect of that person;

• “a period of incapacity for work” means—

  1. (a)

     a period of 4 or more consecutive days each of which is a day on which a person is incapable of work and any two such periods separated by a period of not more than 8 weeks is to be treated as one period of incapacity for work, or

  2. (b)

     such larger number of weeks as is prescribed under section 30C(4)(b) of the Contributions and Benefits Act; and

• “trial basis” means such trial period and other related matters as may be agreed between the person, the Department for Education and Employment and an employer in relation to the approved work.

This regulation applies to a person who moves his residence from a pilot scheme area (“former pilot scheme area”) to a residence which is not within a pilot scheme area in the course of the pilot scheme period.

A person to whom paragraph (1) applies shall be treated as residing in the former pilot scheme area if—

in relation to a person to whom regulation 4 applies, a period up to 7th October 2000, or

in relation to a person to whom regulation 5 applies, the remaining period in respect of which he is doing approved work,