Citation, commencement, application and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Universal Credit (Exceptions to the Requirement not to be receiving Education) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 and come into force on 15th December 2021.

(2) These Regulations apply in relation to a claim for universal credit that is made on or after 15th December 2021.

(3) Any amendment made by these Regulations has the same extent as the provision amended.

Amendment of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013

2.  In regulation 14 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 (exceptions to the requirement not to be receiving education)( 3)—

(a) for paragraph (1)(b) substitute——

“(b) the person is entitled to attendance allowance, disability living allowance, child disability payment or personal independence payment and, on a date before the date on which the person starts receiving education—

(i) it has been determined that the person has limited capability for work or limited capability for work and work-related activity on the basis of an assessment under Part 5 or under Part 4 or 5 of the ESA Regulations; or

(ii) the person is treated as having limited capability for work under Schedule 8 or limited capability for work and work-related activity under Schedule 9; ”;

(b) omit paragraph (2).

Amendment of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014

3.  In regulation 19 of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 (transition from old-style ESA)( 4)—

(a) in paragraph (2)(b), for “the Act.” substitute—

“the Act; and

(c) the claimant is to be treated as if the determination that they have limited capability for work, for the purposes of regulation 14(1)(b) of the Universal Credit Regulations, was made before the date on which the claimant started receiving education (see regulations 12(2) and 13 of the Universal Credit Regulations). ”;

(b) in paragraph (4)—

(i) in sub-paragraph (a), omit the “and” at the end;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (b), for “the Act.” substitute—

“the Act; and

(c) the claimant is to be treated as if the determination that they have limited capability for work and work-related activity, for the purposes of regulation 14(1)(b) of those Regulations, was made before the date on which the claimant started receiving education. ”.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 ( S.I. 2013/376) and the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 ( S.I. 2014/1230).

Regulation 2 substitutes a new paragraph (1)(b) in regulation 14 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013, which sets out the exceptions to the requirement to meet the basic condition not to be receiving education. This provides that a person entitled to attendance allowance, disability living allowance, child disability payment or personal independence payment will be entitled to universal credit if they are determined to have limited capability for work (LCW) or limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) on a date before they started receiving education or they are treated as having LCW or LCWRA before that date. Paragraph (2) of regulation 14 of those Regulations, which contains an interpretation provision, is omitted as it is no longer needed.

Regulation 3 amends regulation 19 of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014. The amendments enable a person who transitions from income-related employment and support allowance to universal credit to be treated as having been determined to have LCW or LCWRA before the date the person started receiving education so that they will be entitled to universal credit.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, public or voluntary sectors is foreseen.