Explanatory note

The regulations contained in this Instrument are either made by virtue of, or are consequential upon, provisions in Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007. This Instrument is made before the expiry of the period of 6 months beginning with the coming into force of those provisions; the regulations in it are therefore exempt in accordance with section 173(5) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 from the requirement in section 172(1) of that Act to refer proposals to make Regulations to the Social Security Advisory Committee and are made without reference to that Committee.

Regulation 2 modifies the effect of section 150 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 so that the up-rating order made under that section may reduce certain amounts.

These Regulations have no impact on the cost of business, charities or the voluntary sector and an Impact Assessment has not been published. However, an Impact Assessment has been completed for the wider set of rate alignment measures announced in the White Paper “Raising expectations and increasing support” (Cm 7506) and can be found at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/welfarereform/raisingexpectations/impact-assessment.pdf.