Section 6: Exclusion from benefits

68. Section 6 falls to the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Social Security and covers all of Great Britain.

69. The purpose of this section is to remove entitlement to income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support and Housing Benefit from those young people who will be supported by local authorities under the arrangements made in this Act until age 18.

70. There is a provision at subsection (3) to provide in regulations for certain groups of eligible young people to be exempted from this loss of benefit. It is envisaged that this provision will be used to ensure that Income Support and Job Seeker's Allowance will still be available to care leavers who would otherwise be relevant children but who are lone parents or disabled.

71. There is no provision to remove non-means tested benefits (such as Disability Living Allowance) and these benefits will continue to be paid to all those care leavers who qualify for them.

72. There is no reference to Council Tax Benefit because people under age 18 are not liable for Council Tax.

Section 7

73. This section makes consequential amendments.

74. Subsection (3) makes provision for local authorities to recoup costs from each other in respect of services provided following a request for co-operation under section 27(2), for children who fall to each other's responsibility. The subsection amends section 29 of the Children Act to take account of the new concept that the responsible authority for a relevant or former relevant child will be the last authority to have looked after him. It does this by amending subsection (9) and inserting a new subsection (10). New subsection (10) provides that one local authority may recover its expenses from another in the case of relevant children, former relevant children; and those who, having been looked after, are being helped under section 24.

75. Subsection (4) adds the new services detailed in sections 23B to 23D and 24A and 24B to the list of those services about which a local authority is obliged to publish information under paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Children Act. Subsection (5) makes minor amendments consequent on the Care Standards Act 2000 (c.14).

Section 8: interpretation etc

76. This section deals with commencement and other issues. By subsection (3) commencement orders other than in respect of section 6, may be made separately as respects each of England and Wales.

77. The effect of subsection (7) is that regulations made under the provisions of this Act which amend the Children Act, will be made in respect of England by the Secretary of State and in respect of Wales by the National Assembly for Wales.

78. Subsection (8) puts it beyond doubt that section 8(7) does not affect any power to vary or revoke the reference to the Children Act in the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 by further Order.

COMMENCEMENT

79. The Act will come into force in England and Wales on a date or dates to be determined. Section 6, as applied to Scotland, will come into force in Scotland at a later date to be determined.

DETAILS OF THE BILL'S PASSAGE THROUGH PARLIAMENT WERE AS FOLLOWS:

House of Lords	Date	House of Lords Hansard
Introduction	18 November 1999	Vol 607 Col 23
Second Reading	7 December 1999	Vol 607 Cols 1156-1191
Order of Commitment discharged	3 February 2000	Vol 609 Col 350-351
Grand Committee	10 February 2000	Vol 609 Col CWH1-CWH66
Report	9 March 2000	Vol 610 Cols 1243-1274
Third Reading	22 May 2000	Vol 613 Cols 477-488
Consideration of Commons Amendments	28 November 2000	Vol 619 Cols 1259-1262
House of Commons	Date	House of Commons Hansard
Brought from the House of Lords	23 May 2000
Second Reading	21 June 2000	Vol 352 No 119 Cols 357-420
Committee	6 July-13 July	Hansard Standing Committee A
Report and Third Reading	31 October 2000	Vol 335 No 150 Cols 634-685
Royal Assent	30 November 2000