Section 14: Action plans in connection with work-focused interviews

Section 14 provides that at work-focused interviews, a written action plan will be developed.

Regulations under subsections (1) and (2) may provide that the action plan should include a summary of the discussion that took place during the work-focused interview. In a situation where participation in work-related activity is not required under regulations, the action plan would include possible steps a claimant could consider taking to assist him in returning to work.

Where appropriate, it is intended that the action plan would include steps that, if the claimant undertook them, would satisfy the work-related activity requirement under section 13.

It is not intended that the claimant will be required by regulations to undertake specific steps in the action plan, even when participation in work-related activity was required. A claimant could still satisfy the work-related activity requirement by undertaking other activity.

Regulations under subsection (4) may provide that a claimant should be able to ask for his action plan to be reconsidered. This would be in order to resolve situations where a claimant believed the steps included were, or had become, inappropriate or that other steps, not agreed at the work-focused interview, should be included. The action plan would then be reconsidered in a set period of time. It is not intended, in a situation where a claimant asks for a reconsideration of the action plan, that requirements under regulations to undertake work-related activity would be waived or deferred.

Section 15: Directions about work-related activity

Section 15 provides a power for the Department or the Department for Employment and Learning to direct that a specific activity in the case of an individual is not to count as work-related activity. This is intended to stop a claimant seeking to satisfy the requirement to undertake work-related activity by undertaking activity that is considered inappropriate for his circumstances.

Section 16: Contracting out

Section 16 has the effect of allowing contracted providers in the private and voluntary sectors ("providers") to exercise functions of the Department or the Department for Employment and Learning relating to conditionality. Providers will not be permitted to exercise functions relating to "excluded decisions" which are listed in subsection (3).

Subsection (1) provides that the Department or the Department for Employment and Learning can authorise providers to undertake certain functions (sections 12, 14 and 15) relating to work-focused interviews, action plans and directions relating to work-related activity.

Subsection (2) provides for regulations to be made that allow the Department or the Department for Employment and Learning to authorise provider organisations to undertake certain functions under regulations made under sections 11 to 15 and providers to undertake functions relating to certain conditionality decisions.

Subsection (5) makes it clear that where authorisation is given for providers to undertake a function the authorisation may only apply to part of that function.

Subsection (7)(b) provides that authorisations granted under or by virtue of section 16 can be revoked and subsection (7)(c) provides that giving authorisation to a provider does not preclude the related function from being undertaken by the Department or the Department for Employment and Learning.

Subsections (8) and (9) establish that, where a function is undertaken by a provider, that function is treated as if it had been undertaken by the Department or the Department for Employment and Learning. This will not apply for the purposes of the operation of a provider - for example a contractor would be treated as performing work-focused interviews for the purposes of being paid for them. It also establishes that responsibility lies with the provider in respect of any criminal proceedings brought because of his actions.

Subsection (10) ensures that any decision made by a provider has effect as a decision under Article 9 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998. This ensures that such decisions fit into the decision-making and appeals legislation.

Subsection (11) establishes that where authorisation for a function is revoked and the provider is therefore unable to perform the functions which he is contracted for, the contract can be treated as repudiated.

Miscellaneous

Section 17: Income and capital: general

Section 17 enables the Department to set out in regulations how the income and capital of a claimant (and his partner) is to be calculated for the purpose of determining whether a claimant is entitled to an employment and support allowance and, if so, how much is to be payable. Regulations under this section will be based on the existing provisions for the purposes of income-related benefits.

Subsections (1) and (2) provide regulation-making powers to prescribe how income and capital will be assessed. It is intended that the regulations will provide that income may be averaged. In averaging income for fluctuating earnings, for example, the Department may take an average for a past period and a current period and apply it to a future period, as occurs in connection with income support.

Subsection (3) provides a power to make regulations prescribing that a person is to be treated as having, or not having, certain income or capital. It also enables regulations to provide for income to be treated as capital, or vice versa. In particular, regulations could make provision about how capital holdings would be taken into account in relation to an employment and support allowance. The intention is that a rate of return of £1 per week for every £250 will be applied to capital in excess of £6,000 and below the upper capital limit of £16,000. In the case of persons in residential care and nursing homes this range will be between £10,000 and £16,000. Capital below this amount will not be treated as giving rise to income which is to be taken into account in the assessment. Certain types of actual income from capital will be relevant to the assessment. These are expected to be limited to income from boarders and sub-tenants in the person's own home and income from certain trusts. There will be different provision as to disregarding different types of income which is expected to follow the existing provision for income support.

It is also intended that existing provisions for income support concerning unacceptable deprivation of income or capital will be applied to an employment and support allowance.

Section 18: Disqualification

Section 18 provides that in certain circumstances, similar to those in section 167E of the Contributions and Benefits Act, a person can be disqualified from receiving an employment and support allowance for a period of up to six weeks. This may be because a person is limited in his capability for work because of his own misconduct, because he remains a person who has limited capability for work through failure, without good cause, to follow medical advice, or because he fails, without good cause, to observe specified rules of behaviour. Regulations will specify the circumstances and the matters which are to be taken into account when making such a decision, including the considerations to be taken into account in deciding whether or not the person concerned had good cause for the failure.

Subsection (4) provides that unless regulations specify otherwise, a person shall be disqualified for receiving contributory employment and support allowance for any period where he is undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody, or is absent from Northern Ireland. This is similar to section 113(1) of the Contributions and Benefits Act which currently applies to incapacity benefit and will allow such a person to continue to be entitled to employment and support allowance whilst disqualified from payment. This is because once the period of disqualification has ended it is intended that awards will be resumed where it is appropriate to do so without the need to re-claim.

Section 19: Pilot schemes

Section 19 provides for pilot schemes having effect for a specified period not exceeding 24 months and subsection (7) provides that one pilot scheme can be replaced by another pilot scheme which is the same or similar.

Pilot schemes can apply to any regulations under the Administration Act which relate to the employment and support allowance as well as to any regulations under this Part of the Act, apart from regulations under:

     Section 3 - deductions from contributory allowance;

     Section 8 - limited capability for work; and

     Section 9 - limited capability for work-related activity.

It is intended to roll out full conditionality linked to participation in work-related activity as resources allow. It is envisaged that in time pilot schemes may operate to explore different variations of the conditionality regime in order to understand what works best to help employment and support allowance claimants to return to work.

Subsection (3) provides that pilot schemes may only be put in place for the purpose of ascertaining whether their provisions will facilitate or encourage claimants to obtain or remain in work. Subsection (5) provides that a pilot scheme may apply to different geographical areas, types of claimant or persons selected to meet certain criteria.

Section 20: Relationship with statutory payments

Section 20 provides for the interaction of an employment and support allowance with statutory payments paid by employers, namely statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay, statutory adoption pay and additional statutory paternity pay.

Subsection (1) provides that a person is not entitled to an employment and support allowance at the same time as statutory sick pay.

Subsection (2) provides that a contributory employment and support allowance is not payable at the same time as statutory maternity pay, except as regulations may provide.

Subsections (4) and (6) make similar provision in the case of statutory adoption pay and additional statutory paternity pay.

Subsections (3), (5) and (7) contain regulation-making powers to provide for the circumstances in which statutory maternity pay, statutory adoption pay and additional statutory paternity pay respectively may be paid at the same time as a contributory employment and support allowance.

Section 21: Deemed entitlement for other purposes

Where specified legislation leads to a loss of entitlement section 21 enables regulations to be made so that a person can be treated as still entitled to employment and support allowance in order to retain his rights and obligations. This is similar to provisions which currently apply to incapacity benefit.

Section 23: Recovery of sums in respect of maintenance

Section 23 provides the Department with powers to make regulations so that payments can be recovered from a person who should be paying maintenance to his spouse or civil partner but is not doing so when the spouse or civil partner is receiving income-related employment and support allowance. These payments may be made to the Department. Similar provisions relate to income support (section 101 of the Administration Act) and income-based jobseeker's allowance (Article 25 of the Jobseekers Order).

Subsection (3) states that the regulations under subsection (1) may make provision about matters relevant to the determining of an application for such an order, the enforcement of such orders, and the rights of the Department in respect of such orders.

General

Section 26: Assembly control

Section 26 provides that certain regulations under sections 2 and 4, the first regulations under section 13 and regulations providing for a pilot scheme (section 19) are subject to the confirmatory resolution procedure in the Assembly. Other regulations under this Part are subject to the negative resolution procedure.

Section 27: General financial arrangements

Section 27 explains that payments of contributory employment and support allowance will be funded from the National Insurance Fund and payments of income-related employment and support allowance will be funded out of the Consolidated Fund. It also provides for the repayment to those funds of any sums recovered in connection with payments of employment and support allowance.

PART 2: Housing benefit

Section 30: Local housing allowance

Section 30 provides for powers for a new way of calculating maximum housing benefit, known as local housing allowance, across the private rented sector.

The main secondary legislation dealing with housing benefit (referred to as "the housing benefit rules") is contained in the Housing Benefit Regulations and the Housing Benefit (SPC) Regulations.

Under the current housing benefit rules for claimants in the private rented sector, the maximum amount of benefit that can be paid is the "appropriate maximum housing benefit", subject to reductions to take account of income. The appropriate maximum housing benefit is the weekly amount of rent eligible to be met by housing benefit, less deductions made in relation to non-dependants. The eligible rent is determined by establishing whether the rent charged is considered appropriate for the particular area, property and the claimant's particular needs. The Housing Executive decides whether rents are appropriate for the particular area or property and the claimant's particular needs using a system of "rent restrictions". Any charges included within the rent that are ineligible for housing benefit purposes, such as for the costs of fuel Acts or meals, must also be deducted.

The local housing allowance replaces the existing rent restrictions by providing a new way to determine the maximum amount of housing benefit payable. Non-dependant deductions and reductions to take account of higher incomes will still apply. Any given claimant would be eligible, as a maximum, to the local housing allowance rate that applies according to the number and mix of occupiers, and the area in which the claimant lives. The detailed rules on how the local housing allowance is set will be in regulations, as is the case under the current housing benefit rules.

Section 30 provides for powers that are more specifically appropriate for the local housing allowance approach to the determination of a claimant's maximum housing benefit.

Subsection (1) removes section 129(4) of the Contributions and Benefits Act, which requires regulations to be made setting out how a claimant's appropriate maximum housing benefit should be determined in any case. This provision will be replaced by a new section 129A(2).

Subsection (2) inserts the new section 129A into the Contributions and Benefits Act which provides for the determination of a claimant's appropriate maximum housing benefit and enables regulations to provide that claimants may have their appropriate maximum housing benefit calculated by reference to Housing Executive determinations. These could be property specific determinations as now, or the generic determinations required under the local housing allowance, which apply to properties of a certain size in a particular area.

Section 129A(4) introduces an additional "treat as liable" power solely for the purpose of calculating the appropriate maximum housing benefit. This provides a more specifically appropriate power centred on the local housing allowance approach, providing for a claimant's housing benefit to exceed his rent liability if the appropriate local housing allowance is higher than his actual rent liability. Equivalent provision is made by subsection (5) for claimants who are "treated" as having a rent liability under regulations made under section 133(2)(j) of the Contributions and Benefits Act (e.g. because it is their partner who has the actual liability). This provides for their housing benefit to exceed their deemed liability, if the appropriate local housing allowance is higher than their deemed liability.

Section 30(3) provides for a power to prescribe when the Housing Executive must review a housing benefit award. This allows for the Housing Executive to apply a new local housing allowance rate each year to ensure that a claimant's award is updated.

Section 31: Loss of housing benefit following eviction for anti-social behaviour, etc

The intention is that this measure will not be introduced until piloting of the sanction in England has been fully evaluated.

Section 31(1) inserts sections 129B to 129F into the Contributions and Benefits Act. Section 129B provides for the reduction, or non-payment, of housing benefit where the following conditions are met:

• a relevant order for possession of the claimant's home has been made by a court on grounds relating to anti-social or criminal behaviour. The relevant orders are set out in section 129C.

• the claimant has ceased to live in that home as a result of that order.

• the claimant has failed to comply without good cause, with a warning notice from the Housing Executive about improving his behaviour (section 129B(2)).

• the claimant satisfies the conditions for entitlement to housing benefit.

It is intended that once a person has satisfied the first two conditions, the Housing Executive will make an attempt to engage with him, if it has not already, with the aim of ending, or preventing repetition of, his anti-social behaviour through the provision of rehabilitation. Where the person refuses to co-operate, the Housing Executive will have the option of using this sanction to encourage him to co-operate with the rehabilitation.

Section 129B(3) provides a power to prescribe the rate of benefit reduction and the circumstances in which it is payable. The intention is to reduce housing benefit by 10 per cent. for the first 4 weeks, followed by 20 per cent. for a further 4 weeks and then 100 per cent. for either a period of up to 5 years beginning with the date of the possession order (section 129B(6)) or until the Housing Executive considers that the sanction should no longer apply (section 129B(5)). Examples of circumstances where the Housing Executive might consider the sanction is no longer appropriate are where the person has begun co-operating with rehabilitation, where rehabilitation services are no longer available or where the person has, or his family have, become particularly vulnerable. It is intended that a lower rate of reduction will apply to those considered to be in hardship. This could include households where someone is seriously ill or pregnant and households with children or which include those with caring responsibilities.

The sanction, having been brought to an end by the Housing Executive can be restarted if the person fails to comply with a further warning notice. If the person stops co-operating with rehabilitation, a further warning can be issued or further action specified. If this is not complied with, without good cause, the sanction will start to run again (section 129B(5)).

Only one sanction can be applied in relation to a relevant order for possession, albeit the sanction can stop and start up to the date 5 years after the original possession order was made (section 129B(7)).

Section 129C sets out the relevant orders for possession. All the orders for possession specified in subsection (1) are made on grounds of behaviour causing a nuisance or annoyance to neighbours or criminal behaviour. It does not matter if the possession is made purely on those grounds or on those grounds coupled with other grounds (section 129C(2)).

The relevant orders for possession specified can be stayed or suspended with conditions attached. Those conditions may relate to behaviour and the payment of rent and rent arrears. If a relevant possession order is made and stayed or suspended with behaviour conditions, the sanction can only be applied if the order takes effect as a result of the breach of those behaviour conditions (section 129C(3) to (5)).

Section 129D(1) provides a power to prescribe circumstances in which benefit not paid due to the application of the sanction can be paid to the claimant. An example of such circumstances would be where a claimant has made a successful application for the relevant order for possession to be set aside.

Section 129D(2) provides a power to vary the definition of relevant orders for possession.

Section 129D(3) provides a power to prescribe the matters which should be taken into account when deciding whether or not a person has good cause, and circumstances in which a person is, or is not, to be regarded as having good cause, for not complying with a warning notice.

Section 129E makes provision for cases where the claimant is a member of a couple. Subsection (2) provides that where both members of a couple lived in a dwelling to which a relevant order for possession relates and left the dwelling as a result, housing benefit could be subject to a future sanction should either member of that couple fail to comply with a warning notice. If only one member of the couple resided in a dwelling to which a relevant order for possession relates the sanction is not to apply (section 129E(3)).

Section 129F(1) allows the Department, by regulations, to require courts to notify it when a relevant order for possession is made and provide relevant details of the order, and also enables the Department to require similar information to that required from a court from others who may be aware of the making of a relevant order for possession. Such people could include, for instance, the landlord. The intention is to place the obligation on the courts in the first instance.

Section 129F(2) enables the Department to provide information obtained under section 129F(1) to the Housing Executive, which will provide rehabilitation services, or to a person authorised by the Housing Executive to provide those services. It also allows the Department to provide information it holds relating to housing benefit to the Housing Executive or service providers.

Section 129F(3) provides for the Department to require, by regulations, relevant information for purposes relating to the administration of housing benefit to be provided by the Housing Executive (providing rehabilitation services) or a person authorised by the Housing Executive to provide those services. Information could include whether a person has satisfied some or all of the conditions of sections 129B(1) or (2).

Section 129F(4) allows the Department to require, by regulations, that relevant information may be shared within the Housing Executive or with other persons (in their roles of administering housing benefit and providing rehabilitation services) for purposes relating to the administration of housing benefit.

Section 129F(5) allows the Department to require, by regulations, that relevant information be shared within the Housing Executive or with other persons (in their roles of administering housing benefit and providing rehabilitation services) for purposes relating to the provision of rehabilitation services.

Section 129F(6) defines relevant information. The manner in which relevant information is to be supplied may be prescribed by the Department (section 129F(7)).

Section 31(2) provides that any regulations made under subsection 129B(3), relating to the rate of the benefit reduction, and regulations made under subsection 129D(2), relating to varying what constitutes a relevant order for possession, would be subject to the confirmatory procedure in the Assembly.

Section 31(3) limits the possible duration of the powers in this section by bringing the provisions of section 31 to an end on 31 December 2010. Further primary legislation would be required to allow the scheme (or any replacement scheme) to operate after that date.

Section 31(3) is a safeguard to prevent anything done under section 31 from having effect after 31 December 2010.

Section 32: Housing benefit for persons taking up employment

Section 33: Section 32: supplemental

Section 34: Interpretation

The housing benefit extended payment scheme provides access to a four week run-on of benefit in certain circumstances, after a qualifying person starts work or increases his hours/wages of current employment. There are two parallel schemes:

• for persons going off either income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance; and

• for persons leaving either incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance.

Generally the four week extended payment will be at the same rate of benefit as the person was receiving in the week before he took up work. This is intended to bridge the gap between leaving benefits and the first pay packet.

In order to be entitled to an extended payment a number of criteria need to be satisfied, which are set out in secondary legislation. For example:

• the claimant or partner must have been entitled to and in receipt of the relevant qualifying benefit for 26 weeks immediately before taking up work or increasing hours/wages of current employment; and

• the claimant or partner must be entitled to housing benefit in the week before employment commenced.

Under the current scheme, a claimant's housing benefit award is ended when he moves off the qualifying benefit and meets the other criteria to enable payment of the extended payment. A new claim must be made in order to obtain any in-work entitlement to housing benefit.

These sections provide for a simpler method of making extended payments and remove the need for those who receive extended payments to submit a new claim for any in-work housing benefit. The move to employment (and entitlement to an extended payment) would be treated like a change of circumstances in a continuing award.

The current extended payment provisions are set out in regulations primarily made under powers in sections 129(2) and (4) of the Contributions and Benefits Act. The detailed rules are in regulations 70, 71, 75 and 76 of, and Schedules 8 and 9 to, the Housing Benefit Regulations and regulations 50, 51 and 56 of, and Schedule 8 to, the Housing Benefit (SPC) Regulations.

Section 32 is designed to recast the underpinning powers for extended payments.

Subsections (1) and (2) provide for the basic underpinning entitlement conditions for extended payments of housing benefit, namely that a person entitled to housing benefit would be entitled to such a payment for a prescribed length of time when his own or his partner's entitlement to one of a number of prescribed benefits ends, in prescribed circumstances, and certain prescribed conditions are satisfied (e.g. he is liable to make payments for the dwelling he occupies as his home). The detailed rules are expected to remain the same or similar to the current scheme, and will remain in secondary legislation to provide the flexibility to keep these under review. The length of the extended payment period is likely to be four weeks as it is now.

Subsections (3) and (6) provide for the extended payment conditions of entitlement to take precedence over normal entitlement rules, in calculating the amount of housing benefit during the prescribed extended payment period.

Subsection (4) clarifies that where a person meets the qualifying conditions for an extended payment, there would be no need to make a separate claim for the extended payment. (There would still be a requirement for certain notifications to be made).

As now, the method of calculating the extended payment will be contained in regulations, which are provided for by subsection (5). It is intended that the amount of the extended payment would be the higher of the out-of-work entitlement or the in-work entitlement. The effect of this is to ensure that the claimant is entitled to at least the amount of housing benefit he was receiving before he started work or increased his income from work, during the extended payment period.

Subsection (7) provides that regulations can prescribe how the entitlement under subsection (2) interacts with an entitlement of housing benefit, whether the housing benefit entitlement is claimed by the extended payment claimant or his partner. For example, regulations made under this provision could provide that the out-of-work award would continue during the extended payment period and what happens when the prescribed extended payment period finishes. If the claimant is part of a couple, regulations can provide whether the calculation of the extended payment will be based upon the claimants or the partner's housing benefit entitlement and how a partner's housing benefit entitlement will be treated when an extended payment is in payment.

Subsection (9) enables the Department to make special provision in regulations for a person who was not entitled to housing benefit when he stopped being entitled to any of the qualifying benefits, but had been so entitled until a week before he took up employment.

Section 33 supports those arrangements by providing in subsections (1) and (2) that the Department can prescribe by regulations any modifications to the housing benefit provisions contained in the Administration Act, or subordinate legislation made in pursuance of that Act, which it considers are required in relation to extended payments. The intention is that the secondary legislation under these subsections will avoid disrupting the normal method of benefit payment, and where appropriate, will complement the payment provisions under the new local housing allowance arrangements.

Subsections (4) to (11) relate to the proposed regulation-making powers, and ensure consistency with existing regulation-making powers in relation to housing benefit.

Subsection (12) provides that payments under section 32 are classed as housing benefit, for example for cross-references in other legislation. For example, Schedule 7 to the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000, which provides the revisions and appeals mechanism for housing benefit, would also apply to payments under section 32.

Section 34 provides specific details on the interpretation of terms used in sections 32 and 33, thereby clarifying specific terms and ensuring consistency with established legislation.