The Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2006

Made: 2nd February 2006

Laid before Parliament: 3rd February 2006

Coming into force: 10th April 2006

The Treasury, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 142(2) 143(3)(c), (4) and (5),

144(1), 145A(1) , 146(3) , 147(1) , (2) and (4) to (6), 175(3) to (5) of, and paragraphs 1, 2(2) and 3 of Schedule 9 to, the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 , sections 138(2) , 139(4), and (5), 140(1), 141(1), 141A(1) , 142(3) , 143(1) , (2), (4), (5) and (6) and 171(3), (4) and (5) of, and paragraphs 1, 2(2) and 3 of Schedule 9 to, the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 and section 133(1) of the Finance Act 1999 and the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs in exercise of the powers conferred by section 175(5) of, and paragraphs 5 and 6(1) of Schedule 10 to the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 section 13(1C) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 , section 171(5) of, and paragraphs 5 and 6(1) of Schedule 10 to the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 , section 11(1C) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 , and section 133(1) of the Finance Act 1999, and, in each case, now exercisable by them, make the following Regulations:

PART 1 — Introductory

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2006 and shall come into force on 10th April 2006 immediately after the Child Benefit Act 2005.

• (2) In these Regulations—

• “the 1989 Act” means the Children Act 1989;

• “the 1995 Act” means the Children (Scotland) Act 1995;

• “the 1995 Order” means the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995;

• “SSCBA” means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;

• “SSCB(NI)A” means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992.

• (3) In these Regulations—

• “advanced education” means full-time education for the purposes of—a course in preparation for a degree, a diploma of higher education, a higher national certificate, a higher national diploma, or a teaching qualification; orany other course which is of a standard above ordinary national diploma, a national diploma or national certificate of Edexcel, a general certificate of education (advanced level), or Scottish national qualifications at higher or advanced higher level;

• “an appropriate office” means—Waterview Park, Washington, Tyne and Wear; orany other office specified in writing by the Commissioners.

• “approved training” means arrangements made by the Government— ... in relation to Wales, known as ... “Traineeships” or “Foundation Apprenticeships” or “Jobs Growth Wales+”; in relation to Scotland, known as ... “No One Left Behind”; or in relation to Northern Ireland, known as “PEACEPLUS Youth Programme 3.2” , “Training for Success” or “Skills for Life and Work

• “arrangements made by the Government” means arrangements—in relation to England and Wales, made by the Secretary of State under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973;in relation to Scotland, made—by the Scottish Ministers under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973;by Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise under section 2 of the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990; orin relation to Northern Ireland, made by the Department for Communities or the Department for the Economy under sections 1 and 3 of the Employment and Training Act (Northern Ireland) 1950;

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

• “child benefit” has the meaning given in section 141 of SSCBA and section 137 of SSCB(NI)A (child benefit);

• “civil partnership” means two people ... who are civil partners of each other and are neither—separated under a court order; norseparated in circumstances where the separation is likely to be permanent;

• ...

• “the Commissioners” means the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (see section 1 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005);

• “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 former, or section 10(2) of the latter, Act;

• “couple” means two people— who are spouses residing together, or civil partners in a civil partnership; or who are not married to, or civil partners of, each other but are living together as if they were a married couple or civil partners;

• “court” means any court in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man;

• “Crown servant posted overseas” has the meaning given in regulation 30(2);

• “EEA State” means—a member State, other than the United Kingdom, orNorway, Iceland or Liechtenstein;

• “EU Agreement” means—an Association Agreement concluded under Article 217 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which makes provision in the field of social security for equal treatment for workers who are nationals of the State with which the agreement has been concluded, ora Stabilisation and Association Agreement concluded under Article 217 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which makes provision for receipt of family allowances for members of a worker’s family who are legally resident in the United Kingdom;

• “full-time education” ...—is education undertaken in pursuit of a course, where the time spent during term time in receiving tuition, engaging in practical work, or supervised study, or taking examinations—on average exceeds 12 hours per week, orin the case of a person who suffers from an illness or physical or mental disability, is any amount of hours appropriate for that person’s individual circumstances, andin calculating the time spent in pursuit of the course, no account shall be taken of time occupied by meal breaks or spent on unsupervised study.

• “hospital or similar institution” means a place in which persons suffering from mental disorders are or may be received for care or treatment but does not include a prison, a young offenders institution, Secure Training Centre, Local Authority Secure Unit, Juvenile Justice Centre, Young Offenders Centre or, if outside the United Kingdom, any comparable place;

• “mental disorder” shall be construed as including references to any mental disorder within the meaning of the Mental Health Acts;

• “the Mental Health Acts” means the Mental Health Act 1983, the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 or the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986;

• “partner” means, in relation to a person who is a member of a couple, the other member of that couple;

• “penalty” means, in the case of any court in Great Britain or Northern Ireland—in England and Wales, a sentence of a detention and training order under section 100 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 or Chapter 2 of Part 10 of the Sentencing Code or detention in a young offenders institution, and a sentence of detention under sections 90, 91, 92 and 93 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 or sections 250, 252A, 259 and 260 of the Sentencing Code;in Scotland, a sentence of detention under sections 44, 205, 207, 208 or 216(7) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995;in Northern Ireland, a sentence of imprisonment, or detention under Article 39, 41, 45 or 54 of, or paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 to, the Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, or an order for detention in a juvenile justice centre or young offenders centre,and in the case of any court outside the United Kingdom, any comparable sentence or order;

• “relevant education” means education which is—full-time; andnot advanced education;

• “relevant person of Northern Ireland” means a person who— is—a British citizen; oran Irish citizen; ora British citizen and an Irish citizen; andwas born in Northern Ireland and, at the time of that person’s birth, at least one of their parents was—a British citizen; oran Irish citizen; ora British citizen and an Irish citizen; orotherwise entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence;

• “remunerative work” means work of not less than 24 hours a week—in respect of which payment is made; orwhich is done in expectation of payment;

• “section 67 leave” means leave to remain in the United Kingdom granted by the Secretary of State to a person who has been relocated to the United Kingdom pursuant to arrangements made by the Secretary of State under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

• “the Taxes Act” means the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988;

• “writing” includes writing produced by electronic communications used in accordance with regulation 39.

• (3A) In these Regulations references to the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 are to be read with Schedule 4 to the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020(Consequential, Saving, Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Regulations 2020.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PART 2 — Qualifying young persons: prescribed conditions

Introduction

2

• (1) Regulations 3 to 7 prescribe—

• (a) the age which a person must not have attained, and

• (b) the conditions which are to be satisfied,

for a person to be a qualifying young person.

• (2) Where more than one of those regulations apply to a person, he is a qualifying young person until the last of them ceases to be satisfied.

• (3) Regulations 3 to 7 are subject to the following qualifications.

• (4) Regulation 8 prescribes an additional condition which must be satisfied for a person to be a qualifying young person in respect of a week.

• (5) No-one who had attained the age of 19 before 10th April 2006 is a qualifying young person.

Education and training condition

3

• (1) This regulation applies in the case of a person who has not attained the age of 20.

• (2) The condition is that the person—

• (a) is undertaking a course of full-time education, which is not advanced education and which is not provided by virtue of his employment or any office held by him—

• (i) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (ii) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (ab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (b) having undertaken such a course as is mentioned in paragraph (a) ... has been accepted or is enrolled to undertake a further such course;

• (c) is undertaking approved training that is not provided by means of a contract of employment; or

• (d) having undertaken a course mentioned in paragraph (a) or approved training mentioned in paragraph (c), has been accepted or is enrolled to undertake such approved training.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) A person who is aged 19 is only a qualifying young person by virtue of paragraph (2)(a)... or (2)(c) if he began the education or training (as the case may be) referred to in that sub-paragraph, or was accepted or enrolled to undertake that education or training, before attaining that age.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Continuation of entitlement until 31st August: 16 year olds

4

• (1) This regulation applies in the case of a person who has not attained the age of 17 and who has left relevant education or training.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (3), the condition is that the 31st August next following the person's 16th birthday has not passed.

• (3) In the case of a person who attains the age of 16 on 31 August in any year, the condition is that the 1st September immediately following has not passed.

Extension period: 16 and 17 year olds

5

• (1) This regulation applies in the case of a person who has not attained the age of 18.

• (2) The condition is that—

• (a) the person has ceased to be in education or training;

• (b) the person is registered for work, education or for training with a qualifying body;

• (c) the person is not engaged in remunerative work;

• (d) the extension period which applies in the case of that person has not expired;

• (e) immediately before the extension period begins, the person who is responsible for him is entitled to child benefit in respect of him without regard to this regulation; and

• (f) the individual who is responsible for that person, within three months of that person’s ceasing education or training, has made a request for the payment of child benefit during the extension period to the Commissioners, in writing, or by such other means as the Commissioners may accept.

• (3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) the extension period—

• (a) begins on the first day of the week after that in which the person ceased to be in education or training; and

• (b) ends 20 weeks after it started.

• (4) In this regulation “qualifying body” means—

• (a) the Careers Service or Connexions Service;

• (b) the Ministry of Defence;

• (c) in Northern Ireland, the Department for Communities, the Department for the Economy or the Education Authority; or

• (d) for the purposes of applying Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1408/71 or Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, any corresponding body in another member State.

Interruptions

6

• (1) This regulation applies in the case of a person who has not attained the age of 20.

• (2) If, immediately before the commencement of an interruption specified in paragraph (3)(a) or (b), a person was a qualifying young person by virtue of any other provision of these Regulations, he is such a person throughout a period of interruption during which he satisfies the condition specified in that sub-paragraph.

• (3) The periods of interruption are—

• (a) one of up to six months (whether beginning before or after the person concerned became 16) but only to the extent to which, in the opinion of the Commissioners, that the interruption is reasonable; and

• (b) one attributable to the illness or disability of mind or body of the person concerned for such period as is reasonable in the opinion of the Commissioners.

Qualifying young person: terminal dates

7

• (1) This regulation applies in the case of a person who has not attained the age of 20.

• (2) The condition is that the period found in accordance with Cases 1 and 2 has not expired in that person’s case

Case 1 1The period is from the date on which he ceases to receive relevant education or approved training, up to and including—athe week including the terminal date, orbif he attains the age of 20 on or before that date, the week including the last Monday before he attains that age.1For the purposes of this Case the “terminal date” means—athe last day in February,bthe last day in May,cthe last day in August,dthe last day in November,whichever first occurs after the date on which the person's relevant education or approved training ceased (but subject to paragraph 1.3 of this Case).1In the case of a person in Scotland who—aundertakes the Higher Certificate or Advanced Higher Certificate immediately before ceasing relevant education, andbceases relevant education on a date earlier than he would have done had he undertaken the comparable examination in England and Wales,the terminal date shall be reckoned by reference to the date on which the cessation would have occurred had he undertaken the comparable examination.

Case 2 2Where a person's name is entered as a candidate for any external examination in connection with relevant education which he is receiving at that time, so long as his name continues to be so entered before ceasing to receive such education, the prescribed period is—afrom the later of—idate when that person ceased to receive relevant education, oriithe date on which he attained the age of 16,bup to and including—iwhichever of the dates in paragraph 1.2 (as modified by paragraph 1.3 where appropriate) first occurs after the conclusion of the examination (or the last of the examinations if the person is entered for more than one), oriithe expiry of the week which includes the last Monday before his 20th birthday,whichever is the earlier.This paragraph is subject to the following qualification....3Child benefit is not payable in respect of a qualifying young person by virtue of this regulation for any week in which he is engaged in remunerative work.4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Child benefit not payable in respect of qualifying young person: other financial support

8

• (1) This regulation applies in the case of a person who has not attained the age of 20 years.

• (2) The condition is that the person is not in receipt, in a week, of—

• (a) income support,

• (b) income-based jobseeker's allowance within the meaning of section 1(4) of the Jobseekers Act 1995 or Article 3(4) of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995,

• (c) incapacity benefit by virtue of being a person to whom section 30A(1)(b) of SSCBA or section 30A(1)(b) of SSCB(NI)A applies, ...

• (d) tax credit under the Tax Credits Act 2002, ...