# The Social Security and Child Support (Jobseeker’s Allowance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1996, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/207), the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/3276), the Social Security (Back to Work Bonus) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/193), the Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982 (S.I. 1982/1408) and the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/1813).
Regulation 2 makes a number of amendments to the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations;
the definition of “benefit week” is amended to provide for jobseekers who have a Saturday benefit week ending,
the definition of “close relative” is amended in relation to young persons,
a definition of the Earnings Top-up Scheme is inserted, and arrears of earnings top-up are to be treated as capital and disregarded when assessing jobseeker’s allowance,
a period of interruption of employment for unemployment benefit purposes is included as a “linked period”,
people coming to Great Britain from Montserrat because of the volcanic activity there are excluded from the definition of “persons from abroad”,
a person in residential accommodation provided by a local authority who is still in that accommodation when it becomes a residential care home for the purposes of the Regulations will be treated as being in local authority residential accommodation, notwithstanding that the local authority may no longer be under a duty to provide or make arrangements for providing accommodation for him,
the date child support maintenance is treated as paid is altered, as are the dates on which hardship payments are made,
days of entitlement to a contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance can count towards the qualifying period for help with mortgage interest available in respect of income-based jobseeker’s allowance,
a definition of training and training allowance is added, and the amount deducted in respect of the earnings of a non-dependant is increased to £12 to align jobseeker’s allowance with income support.
Regulation 3 makes a number of amendments to the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Transitional Provisions) Regulations;
the definition of “training allowance” is amended,
periods of disqualification for receiving unemployment benefit are treated as counting towards the maximum number of days a jobseeker’s allowance is payable.
Regulation 4 makes a number of amendments to the Social Security (Back to Work Bonus) Regulations 1996;
the definition of “training allowance” is amended,
the provisions on whether earnings should be taken into account are amended,
technical amendments are made to regulations 7 and 15,
two further circumstances in which a person aged 60 or over who claims income support may be entitled to a bonus are added to regulation 17,
the earnings to be taken into account in respect of share fishermen are limited to those earned whilst entitled to contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance.
The Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations are amended so that rules on the payment of benefit and suspension of payments pending a decision on appeals or references, and arrears and repayment similar to those that apply to unemployment benefit will apply to a jobseeker’s allowance.
The Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations are amended so that where benefit is reduced under a reduced benefit direction, the minimum amount of a jobseeker’s allowance which is payable shall be untouched, and the reduced benefit direction may be suspended when specified deductions are made from a jobseeker’s allowance.
These Regulations revoke regulation 27 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support (General) (Amendment) Regulations 1996.
A copy of the Rules of the Earnings Top-up Scheme may be obtained from:
The Customer Services Manager
Earnings Top-up
Norcross
Blackpool FY5 3TA
These Regulations do not impose a charge on businesses.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/2538/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-and-child-support-jobseekers-allowance-miscellaneous-amendments-regulations-1996/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.