The Social Security (Work-focused Interviews) Regulations 2000

Made: 28th March 2000

Coming into force: 3rd April 2000

Whereas a draft of this Instrument was laid before Parliament in accordance with section 190(1)(aa) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament:

Now therefore the Secretary of State for Social Security, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 2A, 2B(6) and (7), 5(1)(a) and (b), 6(1)(a) and (b), 7A, 189(1), (4) to (7A) and 191 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, after consultation with the Council on Tribunals in accordance with section 8(1) of the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992 and in respect of provisions in these Regulations relating to housing benefit and council tax benefit with organisations appearing to him to be representative of the authorities concerned, by this Instrument, which contains only regulations made by virtue of or consequential upon sections 57 and 71 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 and which is made before the end of a period of 6 months beginning with the coming into force of those provisions, hereby make the following Regulations:

PART I — GENERAL

Citation and commencement

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These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Work-focused Interviews) Regulations 2000 and shall come into force on 3rd April 2000.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations–

• “the Act" means the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999;

• “the 1998 Act" means the Social Security Act 1998 ;

• “benefit week"–in relation to housing benefit and council tax benefit, means a period of 7 days beginning on a Monday;in relation to any other specified benefit, means any period of 7 days corresponding to the week in respect of which the relevant social security benefit is due to be paid;

• “the designated authority" means any of the following–the Secretary of State;a person providing services to the Secretary of State;a local authority;a person providing services to, or authorised to exercise any functions of, any such authority;

• the Careers Service means—in England and Wales, a person with whom the Secretary of State or, as the case may be, the National Assembly for Wales, have made arrangements under section 10(1) of the Employment and Training Act 1973 or a local education authority to whom a direction has been given by the Secretary of State or the Natonal Assembly for Wales under section 10(2) of that Act;in Scotland, a person with whom the Scottish Ministers have made arrangements under section 10(1) of the Employment and Training Act 1973 or any education authority to whom a direction has been given by the Scottish Ministers under section 10(2) of that Act;

• “the Connexions Service” means a person of any description with whom the Secretary of State has made an arrangement under section 114(2)(a) of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 and section 10(1) of the Employment and Training Act 1973 and any person to whom he has given a direction under section 114(2)(b) of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 and section 10(2) of the Employment and Training Act 1973;

• “the Council Tax Benefit Regulations" means the Council Tax Benefit (General) Regulations 1992 ;

• “the Claims and Payments Regulations" means the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 ;

• “the Housing Benefit Regulations" means the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987 ;

• “interview" means a work-focused interview;

• “lone parent” means a person who has no partner and who is responsible for, and a member of the same household as, a child;

• “specified benefit” means income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit, incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance;

• “specified person” means—a lone parent, ora person who claims—incapacity benefit,income support where paragraph 7 (persons incapable of work) of Schedule 1B to the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 applies,income support where paragraph 24 or 25 (persons appealing against a decision which embodies a determination that they are not incapable of work) of Schedule 1B to the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 applies, orsevere disablement allowance;

• “work-focused interview" has the meaning given in regulation 3.

• (2) In these Regulations, a “relevant person" is a person who resides in an area identified in Schedule 1.

• (3) For the purposes of these Regulations–

• (a) “remunerative work" has the meaning prescribed in regulation 4 of the Housing Benefit Regulations; and

• (b) “part-time work" means work for which payment is made and which is not remunerative work.

• (4) Where a claim for benefit is made by a person (“the appointee") on behalf of another, references in these Regulations to a person claiming benefit shall be treated as a reference to the person on whose behalf the claim is made and not to the appointee.

• (5) These Regulations apply in respect of a specified benefit claimed on or after 3rd April 2000.

• (6) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference–

• (a) to a numbered section is to the section of the Act bearing that number;

• (b) to a numbered regulation or Schedule is to the regulation in or Schedule to these Regulations bearing that number;

• (c) in a regulation or Schedule to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph in that regulation or Schedule bearing that number;

• (d) in a paragraph to a lettered or numbered sub-paragraph is to the sub-paragraph in that paragraph bearing that letter or number.

Work-focused interview

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In these Regulations, a “work-focused interview" means an interview with a relevant person conducted for any or all of the following purposes–

• (a) assessing a person’s prospects for existing or future employment (whether paid or voluntary);

• (b) assisting or encouraging a person to enhance his prospects of such employment;

• (c) identifying activities which the person may undertake to strengthen his existing or future prospects of such employment;

• (d) identifying current or future employment or training opportunities suitable to the person’s needs; and

• (e) identifying educational opportunities connected with the existing or future employment prospects or needs of the person.

PART II — WORK-FOCUSED INTERVIEWS

Persons required to take part in an interview

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• (1) This regulation is subject to the provisions of regulations 5, 7, 8 and 9.

• (2) A relevant person who–

• (a) makes a claim for a specified benefit to a designated authority;

• (b) has not attained the age of 60 at the time of making the claim; and

• (c) is not in remunerative work,

is required to take part in an interview.

• (3) A designated authority to whom a claim is made shall arrange for the person to whom the claim relates and who is required in accordance with these Regulations to take part in an interview to have a personal adviser.

• (4) A personal adviser shall except where paragraph (6) applies conduct the interview.

• (5) The interview shall take place at an office of the designated authority or at such other place as may be notified to that person by a personal adviser.

• (6) Where the claimant has not attained the age of 18, the designated authority shall arrange for the claimant to have an interview with an officer of the Careers Service or with an officer of the Connexions Service.

Exemptions

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• (1) The following claims for a specified benefit do not give rise to an interview under regulation 4–

• (a) claims by persons who at the time the claim is made are engaged in remunerative work;

• (b) except in a case to which paragraph (1A) applies, claims for a specified benefit where the person making the claim is also claiming a jobseeker’s allowance;

• (c) except in a case to which paragraph (1A) applies, claims for a specified benefit where, at the time the claim is made, the person making the claim is entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance;

• (d) claims by persons who are not present in, and who do not normally reside in, Great Britain.

• (1A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(b) and (c), a claim for a specified benefit shall give rise to an interview under regulation 4 where—

• (a) at the time the claim is made, the person making the claim is a member of a joint-claim couple as defined for the purposes of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996; and

• (b) it has been decided that that person is a person to whom a paragraph of Schedule A1 to those Regulations applies (categories of members of joint-claim couples who are not required to satisfy the conditions in section 1(2B)(b) of the Jobseekers Act 1995).

• (2) The following claims for housing benefit and council tax benefit do not give rise to an interview under regulation 4–

• (a) claims made on the expiry of a benefit period;

• (b) claims made in consequence of the claimant moving from one dwelling to another within the same local authority area.

Continuing entitlement dependent upon an interview

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• (1) A relevant person who has not attained pensionable age and who is entitled to a specified benefit shall be required to take part in an interview as a condition of his continuing to be entitled to the full amount of benefit which is payable apart from these Regulations where paragraph (2) applies and–

• (a) in the case of a lone parent who resides in an area identified in Schedule 1A and who is not entitled to either incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance, paragraph (3) applies; or

• (b) in any other case, any of the circumstances specified in paragraph (4) apply or where paragraph (4A) applies.

• (2) This paragraph applies in the case of a person who has taken part in a work-focused interview, or who would have taken part in such an interview but for the requirement being waived in accordance with regulation 7 or deferred in accordance with regulation 8.

• (3) A lone parent to whom paragraph (1)(a) applies shall be required to take part in an interview—

• (a) after the expiry of six months from the date on which—

• (i) he took part in an interview under regulation 4; or

• (ii) a determination was made under regulation 7(1) that he was to be treated as having taken part in an interview under regulation 4;

• (b) where the lone parent took part, failed to take part or was treated as having taken part, in an interview pursuant to the requirement arising in sub-paragraph (a), after the expiry of six months from the date on which—

• (i) he took part in that interview;

• (ii) he failed to take part in that interview; or

• (iii) a determination was made under regulation 7(1) that he was to be treated as having taken part in that interview; and

• (c) where the lone parent took part, failed to take part or was treated as having taken part, in an interview pursuant to the requirement arising in sub-paragraph (b), after the expiry of twelve months from the date on which—

• (i) he last took part in an interview;

• (ii) he last failed to take part in an interview; or

• (iii) a determination was last made under regulation 7(1) that he was to be treated as having taken part in an interview.

• (4) The circumstances specified in this paragraph are those where–

• (a) it is determined in accordance with a personal capability assessment that a person is incapable of work and therefore, continues to be entitled to a specified benefit;

• (b) a person’s entitlement to carer’s allowance , or the carer support payment component of carer support given in accordance with the Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023, ceases whilst entitlement to a specified benefit continues;

• (c) a person becomes engaged or ceases to be engaged in part-time work;

• (d) a person has been undergoing education or training arranged by a personal adviser and that education or training comes to an end; and

• (e) a person who has not attained the age of 18 and who has previously undertaken an interview attains the age of 18.

• (4A) A requirement to take part in an interview arises under this paragraph where a person—

• (a) resides in an area identified in Schedule 1A; and

• (b) has not been required to take part in an interview by virtue of paragraph (4) for at least 36 months.

• (5) In this regulation–

• ...

• “pensionable age”, in the case of a man born before 6th April 1955, means the age when a woman born on the same day as the man would attain pensionable age;

• “personal capability assessment" means an assessment in accordance with regulations made under section 171C of the Contributions and Benefits Act .

Waiver

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• (1) A requirement to take part in an interview imposed by these Regulations shall not apply where the designated authority determines in the case of any particular person making a claim that the interview–

• (a) would not be of assistance to that person, or

• (b) would not be appropriate in the circumstances of that case.

• (2) A person in relation to whom the requirement to take part in an interview has been waived shall be treated for the purposes of any claim for or entitlement to a specified benefit as having complied with that requirement.

Deferment of interview

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• (1) Except in a case to which paragraph (2) refers, a personal adviser shall arrange for an interview to take place as soon as reasonably practicable after the claim is made or the event which under regulation 6(3) or (4) gives rise to the interview occurs.

• (2) This paragraph applies where the designated authority determines in the case of any particular person that the requirement to take part in an interview shall not apply at the time the claim is made or the event occurs because an interview would not at that time–

• (a) be of assistance to that person, or

• (b) be appropriate in the circumstances of that case.

• (3) A designated authority who determines in accordance with the preceding provisions of this regulation that the requirement to take part in an interview shall not apply shall also determine either when that determination is made or later, the time when the requirement to take part in an interview is to apply in the claimant’s case.

• (4) Where an interview has been deferred in accordance with this regulation, then until both–

• (a) a determination has been made that the claimant is to take part in an interview, and

• (b) a determination has been made as to whether the claimant in fact took part in an interview,

he shall be treated for the purposes of any claim for or entitlement to a specified benefit as having complied with any requirement to take part in an interview.

Claims for two or more specified benefits

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A person who would otherwise be required under these Regulations to take part in interviews relating to more than one specified benefit–

• (a) is only required to take part in one interview; and

• (b) that interview counts for the purposes of all those benefits.

The interview

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• (1) The relevant person’s personal adviser shall inform the claimant of the place and time of the interview.

• (2) The personal adviser may determine that the interview is to take place in the home of the claimant or elsewhere where it would in the opinion of the personal adviser be unreasonable to expect the claimant to attend the office of a designated authority because his personal circumstances are such that attending the office would cause him undue inconvenience or endanger his health.

Taking part in an interview

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• (1) The designated authority shall determine whether a person has taken part in an interview.

• (2) A person who has attained the age of 18 shall be regarded as having taken part in his first interview under these Regulations after 30th October 2005 if—

• (a) he attends at the place and time notified to him by the personal adviser for the interview;

• (b) where he is a specified person, he participates in discussions with the personal adviser in relation to the specified person’s employability, including any action the specified person and the personal adviser agree is reasonable and they are willing to take in order to help the specified person enhance his employment prospects;

• (c) he participates in discussions with the personal adviser—

• (i) in relation to the person’s employability or any progress he might have made towards obtaining employment; and

• (ii) in order to consider any of the programmes and support available to help the person obtain employment;

• (d) he provides answers (where asked) and appropriate information to questions about—

• (i) the content of any report made following his personal capability assessment, insofar as that report relates to the person’s capabilities and employability; and

• (ii) his opinion as to the extent to which his medical condition restricts his ability to obtain employment; and

• (e) where he is a specified person, he assists the personal adviser in the completion of an action plan which records the matters discussed in relation to sub-paragraph (b) above.

• (2A) A person who has attained the age of 18 shall be regarded as having taken part in any subsequent interview under these Regulations if—

• (a) he attends at the place and time notified to him by the personal adviser for the interview;

• (b) he participates in discussions with the personal adviser—

• (i) in relation to the person’s employability or any progress he might have made towards obtaining employment; and