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Explanatory note

Original text. Later amendments are not shown.

(This note is not part of the Order)

Part 2 of this Order amends the Orders set out below, which make provision for the coming into force of the universal credit (UC) provisions in Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c.5) (“UC provisions”) and the provisions in that Part that abolish income-related employment and support allowance and income-based jobseeker’s allowance (“amending provisions”). The amendments will apply where claims for UC or for an employment and support allowance (“ESA”) or a jobseeker’s allowance (“JSA”) are made on or after 16th June 2014, in relation to areas where claims for UC may currently be made, and in certain other cases as referred to in article 3 of this Order.

The Orders amended (“the relevant Orders”) and the areas covered by each Order (specified in the Schedule to each Order) are—

The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Commencement No. 8 and Savings and Transitional Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/983 (C. 41) (“the No. 9 Order”: covers the “relevant districts”);

the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 11 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Commencement No. 9 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/1511 (C. 60) (“the No. 11 Order”: covers the “No. 2 and No. 3 relevant districts”);

the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 13 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/2657 (C. 107) (“the No. 13 Order”: covers the “No. 4 relevant districts”);

the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 14 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/2846 (C. 114) (“the No. 14 Order”: covers the “No. 5 relevant districts”);

The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 16 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/209) (C. 7) (“the No. 16 Order”: covers the No. 6 and No.7 relevant districts”).

In conjunction with these changes, the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2013 (S.I 2013/386) (“2013 Transitional Regulations”) are revoked and replaced by the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1230) (“2014 Transitional Regulations”). The “Pathfinder Group” conditions that were formerly contained in regulations 5 to 12 of the 2013 Transitional Regulations are omitted from the 2014 Transitional Regulations and similar conditions appear in Schedule 5 to the No. 9 Order as inserted by this Order (now known as the “gateway conditions”).

Article 3 sets out the cases for which amendments are made to the existing Orders.

Article 4 of this Order amends article 3 of the No. 9 Order in relation to the cases covered by article 3 of this Order with respect to the coming into force of the provisions referred to in Schedule 2 to the No. 9 Order. The main changes to article 3 of the No. 9 Order are—

  1. a)

    article 3(3)(a) and (b) refer to a claim for UC being made by a person who resides in a relevant district and meets “the gateway conditions”, rather than just to a person who resides in a relevant district;

  2. b)

    new paragraphs (7) to (11) of article 3, provide that UC provisions do not come into force in—

    1. i)

      a new claimant partner case (where a person who was not entitled to UC becomes part of a couple with a person who was entitled to UC as a single claimant);

    2. ii)

      a case where a former member of a couple claims UC within one month of ceasing to be part of the couple; or

    3. iii)

      a case where an award of UC is made without a claim,

unless specified conditions relating to non-entitlement to certain benefits are satisfied.

Article 5(2) of this Order inserts a new article 3A into the No. 9 Order containing provision with respect to the position where a person claims UC and provides incorrect information as to their place of residence or their compliance with the gateway conditions. This article is similar to regulation 13 of the revoked 2013 Transitional Regulations.

Article 6 of this Order substitutes a new article 4 of the No. 9 Order with respect to the coming into force of the amending provisions in relation to cases covered by article 3 of this Order. An award of ESA or JSA that is made under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (c.5) or the Jobseekers Act 1995 (c.18) as amended by the amending provisions, and which is therefore contributory only, is referred to as “new style ESA” or “new style JSA”.

Sub-paragraphs (a) to (f) of paragraph (2) of the new article 4(2) of the No. 9 Order provide for the coming into force of the amending provisions under conditions that are similar to those that apply under article 3 of the No. 9 Order for the coming into force of the UC provisions (though sub-paragraph (a) refers to a claim for UC, ESA or JSA).

New article 4(2)(c) of the No. 9 Order covers the case where a couple is formed by a person who was entitled to UC as a single person and a person (“new claimant partner”) who was not so entitled before becoming part of the couple. Article 4(2)(c), with new article 5(2) of the No. 9 Order, provides that, in addition, the basic conditions for UC set out in section 4(1)(a) to (d) of the Act must be satisfied before the amending provisions come into force (this reflects the fact that the person who did not previously have an award of UC may have an award of old style ESA or JSA (i.e. an award subject to Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (c.5) or the Jobseekers Act 1995 (c.18), respectively, as those provisions have effect apart from the amending provisions). Where the conditions are not satisfied, the amending provisions will not commence such that the old style ESA or JSA award continues in being).

New article 4(2)(g) of the No. 9 Order, with new article 5(3) and (4) of the No. 9 Order, provides that the amending provisions come into force in relation to the case of a claim for ESA or JSA where the claim does not fall within the case in article 4(2)(a) and where the claim for ESA or JSA is made during the period specified (mainly the period when a claim for UC is being considered or an award of UC is extant). This has the effect that such a claim for ESA or JSA is a claim for new style ESA or new style JSA, even where the claim relates to a period before the beginning of the UC award.

Article 4(4) of the No. 9 Order contains an alternative appointed day where, in a case under article 4(2)(c), the new claimant partner was formerly part of a couple with another person and an award of old style ESA or JSA applied to the former couple for part of the period for which a claim for UC is treated as made by the new claimant partner together with their new partner. In that case, the appointed day is the day after the day on which the new claimant partner and their former partner ceased to be a couple.

Article 7 of this Order substitutes a new article 5 of the No. 9 Order. The new article 5 contains provisions relevant to the interpretation of article 4 and in particular provides that, for the purpose of deciding whether a claim is made under new article 4(2)(g) of the No. 9 Order within the period specified (mainly, when a claim for UC is being considered or an award of UC is extant), it is irrelevant that, under rules in the Claims and Payments Regulations 1987, the claim is treated as made prior to that period (e.g. in cases where a person makes a claim for JSA for a period before the claim is made and the claim is deemed to be made at the beginning of the period for which the claim is made). There is an exception for cases where a person gave first notification of intention to make a claim, or made an incomplete claim, prior to the period and completed the claim during the period.

Article 8 inserts a new article 5A into the No. 9 Order. This article has the effect that where a person claims ESA or JSA and they would not be able to claim UC by virtue of a determination made by the Secretary of State that a claim for UC may not be made in a specified class of case or area (see regulation 4(1) of the 2014 Transitional Regulations), then Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007, the Jobseekers Act 1995 and other relevant provisions apply in relation to the claim for ESA or JSA as if the amending provisions had not come into force. There is an exception where the claim for ESA or JSA is made during the period specified in article 4(2)(g) (mainly, where the claim for ESA or JSA is made during the period when a claim for UC is being considered or an award of UC is extant).

Article 9 amends article 6 of the No. 9 Order so that the conditions in article 6(1) under which an award of new style ESA or new style JSA can become an award of old style ESA or old style JSA include a condition that a claim for UC could not be made under any commencement order that brings into force the UC provisions, or that such a claim could be made under a commencement order but a determination under regulation 4(1) of the 2014 Transitional Regulations has been made such that such a claim may not be made.

Article 11 amends article 11 of the No. 9 Order to provide for transitional provisions in relation to certain additional cases where a person has an award of old style ESA and previously had an award of new style ESA. Article 12 amends article 13 of the No. 9 Order in order to provide for transitional provisions in relation to certain additional cases where a person has an award of old style JSA and previously had an award of new style JSA.

Article 15 inserts a new article 24 into the No. 9 Order; this makes provision relating to the possible revision of a decision to make a UC award, where an appeal against a decision not to award old style ESA or old style JSA is made after a UC award has been made.

Article 16 inserts a new Schedule 5 into the No. 9 Order (which contains the “gateway conditions”).

Part 3 of this Order amends the No. 11, 13, 14 and 16 Orders in order to make similar changes to these Orders to those made to the No. 9 Order, with respect to claims for UC made on or after 16th June 2014 in relation to residence in the areas covered by those Orders and to compliance with the gateway conditions.