Explanatory note

These Regulations further amend the Community Charge Benefits (General) Regulations 1989, the Family Credit (General) Regulations 1987, the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987, the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 and the Social Security (Unemployment, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit) Regulations 1983 with respect to students.

They exclude students, with certain specified exceptions, from entitlement to housing benefit and income support by treating students, in the case of housing benefit, as not liable to make payments in respect of their dwelling and, in the case of income support, by treating them as not available for employment during their period of study (regulations 4(6) and 5(2), (3) and (8)); and they exclude students from entitlement to unemployment benefit by providing for a day not to be treated as a day of unemployment if on that day a person is a student (regulation 6).

They make provision, in the case of the income-related benefits, for loans made to a student under the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990 to be treated as income and for calculating the weekly amount of that income; exclude from the definition of “grant” income certain payments derived from funds made available by the Secretary of State for Education to assist students in financial difficulties; and increase the amount of the disregard for books to £246, and in the case of housing benefit, the amount of the deduction from eligible rent in London to £2245 and elsewhere to £1555 (regulations 2(2), (3) to (5)and (7), 3, 4(4) to (9)and (11),and 5(4) to (7)and (9)). They also provide for past decisions relating to a person’s entitlement to community charge benefit or housing benefit not to be reviewed on account of the repayment of a student loan (regulations 2(6)and 4(10)).

The Regulations also make transitional provision to enable a student entitled to housing benefit, income support or unemployment benefit immediately before 1st September 1990 to retain entitlement to that benefit until the date on which he resumes his course of study (regulation 7);and other miscellaneous amendments relating to housing benefit (regulation 4(2)and (3)).

The report of the Social Security Advisory Committee dated July 1990 on the proposals to make these Regulations together with the statement showing the extent to which the regulations give effect to them and, in so far as they do not give effect to them, the reasons why not are contained in Command Paper No. 1141, published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.