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The Social Security (Information-sharing in relation to Welfare Services etc.) Regulations 2012

Type Statutory-Instrument

Publication 2012-06-08

State In force

Department King's Printer of Acts of Parliament

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API PDF

Made: 8th June 2012

Laid before Parliament: 11th June 2012

Coming into force: 2nd July 2012

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 130(2) and (7), 131(1), (3) and (11), 132(8) and 133(1) and (2) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 .

In respect of provisions in these Regulations relating to housing benefit, the Secretary of State has consulted with organisations appearing to him to be representative of the authorities concerned .

PART 1 — GENERAL

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Information-sharing in relation to Welfare Services etc.) Regulations 2012 and come into force on 2nd July 2012.

Interpretation

2

In these Regulations—

“the 2012 Act” means the Welfare Reform Act 2012;

“the benefit cap” means the benefit cap (if any) which is provided for in regulations under section 96 of the 2012 Act;

“Careers Wales” means the company with the name Career Choices Dewis Gyrfa Ltd. which is trading as Careers Wales and which is established by the Welsh Government to provide careers services in Wales under sections 2, 8 and 10 of the Employment and Training Act 1973;

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

“council tax reduction scheme”—in England and Wales, has the meaning given in section 13A(9) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and (in England) includes a default scheme within the meaning of paragraph 4 of Schedule 1A to that Act and (in Wales) includes a default scheme within the meaning of paragraph 6(1)(e) of Schedule 1B to that Act; and in Scotland, means a means-tested reduction to an individual’s council tax liability in accordance with the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Regulations 2012 Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Regulations 2021 or the Council Tax Reduction (State Pension Credit) (Scotland) Regulations 2012;

“disabled person's badge” means a badge issued under section 21 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 (badges for display on motor vehicles used by disabled persons) ;

“the healthy start scheme” means the scheme established by the Healthy Start Scheme and Welfare Food (Amendment) Regulations 2005;

“housing benefit” means housing benefit under section 130 of the Contributions and Benefits Act;

“housing benefit claimant” means a person who has made a claim for or is in receipt of housing benefit;

“the Housing Benefit Regulations” means the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 ;

“the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations” means the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 ;

“housing support services” means—

in England, non-statutory assistance;

in Wales, services provided under the supporting people programme in Wales;

in Scotland, services of a type falling within the Schedule to the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (Housing Support Services) Regulations 2002 ;

“landlord” includes a person to whom rent allowance is payable under the Housing Benefit Regulations or regulation 76 of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations (circumstances in which payment is to be made to a landlord), as the case may require;

“local welfare provision” means occasional financial or other assistance given by a local authority, the Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers, or a person authorised to exercise any function of theirs or providing a service to them, to or in respect of individuals for the purpose of—meeting, or helping to meet, an immediate short term need—arising out of an exceptional event or exceptional circumstances; andthat requires to be met in order to avoid a risk to the well-being of an individual; orenabling individuals to establish or maintain a settled home, where those individuals have been or, without the assistance, might otherwise be—in prison, hospital, a residential care establishment or other institution; orhomeless or otherwise living an unsettled way of life;

“non-statutory assistance” means assistance provided by a local authority in England, in the form of the funding, planning, monitoring or delivery of housing-related support services for the purpose of enabling people aged 16 or over to overcome barriers to participation in society by assisting such people to live more independently within their home or community, but does not include the grant of a tenancy or the provision of accommodation;

“offence relating to a council tax reduction” means—any criminal offence in connection with the making of an application for a reduction under a council tax reduction scheme;any criminal offence in connection with the award of a reduction under a council tax reduction scheme;any criminal offence committed for the purpose of facilitating the commission (whether or not by the same person) of an offence of a kind referred to in paragraph (a) or (b); orany attempt or conspiracy to commit an offence of a kind referred to in paragraph (a) or (b);

“regulations relating to under-occupation” means regulations (if any) that have been made under section 130A of the Contributions and Benefits Act which restrict, by reference to the number of bedrooms in relation to the number of people occupying the dwelling as their home, the amount of housing benefit available to housing benefit claimants whose landlord is a social landlord or local authority;

“rent” is to be construed in accordance with regulation 2(1) of the Housing Benefit Regulations or regulation 2(1) of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations, as the case may require;

“residential care” means—in England ..., the provision of accommodation together with nursing and personal care in a care home as defined in section 3 of the Care Standards Act 2000 ; in Scotland, the provision of accommodation together with nursing, personal care or personal support by a care home service as defined in paragraph 2 of Schedule 12 to the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 ;

“social landlord” means—in a case to which the Housing Benefit Regulations apply, a landlord falling within regulation 13C(5)(a)(i), (ii) or (iii) of those Regulations;in a case to which the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations apply, a landlord falling within regulation 13C(5)(a)(i), (ii) or (iii) of those Regulations;in a case to which the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 apply, a provider of social housing within the definition given in paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 (housing costs element for renters) to those Regulations;

“the supporting people programme in Wales” means the programme of assistance provided by local authorities in Wales, in the form of the funding, planning, monitoring or delivery of housing-related support services for the purpose of enabling people aged 16 or over to overcome barriers to participation in society by assisting such people to live more independently within their home or community, other than through the grant of a tenancy or the provision of accommodation;

“troubled families programme” means any programme of assistance provided by a local authority in England, for the purpose of engaging with households who face multiple disadvantages (such as crime, worklessness, truancy and anti-social behaviour), in the form of the funding, planning, monitoring or delivery of support services which assist members of such households to obtain employment, education or training, improve school attendance, or address crime and anti-social behaviour;

“universal credit” means universal credit under Part 1 of the 2012 Act.

“universal credit claimant” means a person who has made a claim for or has an award of universal credit;

“universal support initiative” means any initiative under which advice, assistance or support is provided by the Secretary of State or any qualifying persons listed in regulation 10(1)(e) to a universal credit claimant for the purposes of assisting them with—managing their claim for or award of universal credit, including accessing and using online services, ormanaging their financial affairs.

PART 2 — INFORMATION-SHARING IN RELATION TO PROVISION OF OVERNIGHT CARE ETC. UNDER SECTION 130 OF THE 2012 ACT

Prescribed information

3

(1) The information prescribed under section 130(2)(c) of the 2012 Act (information held by a local authority) is—

(a) whether a resident is meeting in full the cost of the provision to them of residential care and if so the date this commenced and the period over which the cost is intended to be met;

(b) whether the local authority is funding or has funded in full or in part the cost of the provision to a resident of residential care and if so—

(i) the date from which the funding commenced and the period covered or intended to be covered by it;

(ii) the date when the funding stopped or is intended to stop;

(iii) the enactment under which the funding is being or was provided;

(iv) whether there exists any agreement enabling the local authority to recover the cost of the funding on the sale of the resident's home and if so, whether that recovery has commenced or when it is intended to commence; and

(v) whether the local authority has entered into a deferred payment agreement with the resident and if so the date this commenced and the period the agreement is intended to cover.

(2) In this regulation—

(a) “deferred payment agreement” has the meaning given in section 55(3) of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 or (in Scotland) section 6(2) of the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 ;

(b) “resident” means a recipient of residential care.

Prescribed benefits

4

The benefits prescribed under section 130(7)(d) of the 2012 Act are—

(a) attendance allowance under section 64 of the Contributions and Benefits Act ;

(b) disability living allowance under section 71 of the Contributions and Benefits Act

(d) income-related employment and support allowance payable in accordance with section 1(2)(b) of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 ;

(e) income support under section 124 of the Contributions and Benefits Act ; ...

(f) state pension credit under section 1 of the State Pension Credit Act 2002 ; and

(g) personal independence payment under Part 4 of the 2012 Act.

PART 3 — INFORMATION-SHARING IN RELATION TO WELFARE SERVICES OR HOUSING BENEFIT ... UNDER SECTIONS 131 TO 133 OF THE 2012 ACT

Supply of relevant information by the Secretary of State

5

(1) The purposes prescribed under section 131(1) of the 2012 Act in relation to welfare services (purposes for which the Secretary of State or a person providing services to the Secretary of State may supply relevant information to a qualifying person) are—

(a) determining a person’s eligibility or continued eligibility for—

(i) a disabled person’s badge;

(ii) assistance under the healthy start scheme; or

(iii) local welfare provision;

(b) determining whether to make to any person any grant or payment listed in paragraph (2) and if so the amount of any such grant or payment;

(c) determining whether a person applying for or receiving a welfare service listed in paragraph (3) is liable to contribute towards the cost of that service and if so the amount of that contribution; ...

(d) where the qualifying person is a local authority in England—

(i) identifying households eligible for support under a troubled families programme;

(ii) providing appropriate types of advice, support and assistance to members of such households under such programmes; and

(iii) monitoring and evaluating such programmes;

(e) discharging any functions under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 or (in Scotland) Part 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987; ...

(f) identifying, and providing appropriate types of advice, support and assistance to, persons in receipt of a relevant social security benefit who are or may be affected by—

(i) the benefit cap;

(ii) regulations relating to under-occupation.

(g) where the qualifying person is a social landlord and the relevant information is limited to information referred to in paragraph (3A), determining whether a universal credit claimant, whose award includes or is likely to include a housing costs element in respect of accommodation provided by that social landlord, needs advice, assistance or support in relation to managing their financial affairs;

(h) where the qualifying person is listed in regulation 10(1)(e) and the Secretary of State or any qualifying person listed in regulation 10(1)(e) determines that a universal credit claimant needs advice, assistance or support under a universal support initiative—

(i) providing such advice, assistance or support to that person; and

(ii) monitoring and evaluating the provision of such advice, assistance or support.

; and

(i) where the qualifying person is Careers Wales—

(i) identifying persons in Wales aged 18 or over but under 25 who are not in employment and not receiving either education or training;

(ii) providing advice, assistance and support to such persons;

(iii) monitoring and evaluating the provision of such advice, assistance and support.

(2) The grants and payments referred to in paragraph (1)(b) are—

(a) a disability adaptation grant;

(b) a disabled facilities grant;

(3) The welfare services referred to in paragraph (1)(c) are—

(a) housing support services;

(b) the provision of domiciliary care;

(3A) The information referred to in paragraph (1)(g) is information confirming—

(a) the identity of the universal credit claimant;

(b) that the universal credit claimant has a tenancy with the social landlord;

(d) in a case where universal credit has been awarded to the universal credit claimant—

(i) the date on which the next payment of universal credit is due to be paid;

(ii) whether the next payment is the first payment under the award; or

(iii) the amount of housing costs element in the next payment under the award.

(4) In this regulation—

(a) “disability adaptation grant” means a grant paid under Part 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 to assist with the adaptation of a house for a disabled person to make it suitable for the accommodation, welfare or employment of that person;

(b) “disabled facilities grant” means a grant paid under Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 ;

(c) “discretionary housing payment” means a payment made pursuant to regulation 2(1) of the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001 ;

(d) “domiciliary care” means care or assistance of any description provided to an adult person by reason of their age, health or any disability, whether provided continuously or not and whether or not provided at a place where they live, but excludes care or assistance provided to a person in residential care.

(e) “housing costs element” means an amount in respect of housing costs which is included in an award of universal credit under section 11 of the 2012 Act.

Holding purposes

6

(1) The purposes prescribed under section 131(3) of the 2012 Act in relation to welfare services or housing benefit as purposes for which relevant information must be held by a qualifying person in order for them to use or supply it as set out in that subsection, are any of the following—

(a) determining a person’s eligibility or continued eligibility for—

(i) a disabled person’s badge;

(ii) assistance under the healthy start scheme;

(iii) housing support services; or

(iv) local welfare provision;

(b) determining whether to make to any person any grant or payment listed in regulation 5(2) and if so the amount of any such grant or payment;

(c) determining whether a person applying for or receiving a welfare service listed in regulation 5(3) is liable to contribute towards the cost of that service and if so the amount of that contribution;

(d) where the qualifying person is a local authority in England, a person providing services to a local authority in England relating to a troubled families programme, or a person who falls within regulation 10(1)(b)—

(i) identifying households eligible for support under a troubled families programme;

(ii) providing appropriate types of advice, support and assistance to members of such households under such programmes; and

(iii) monitoring and evaluating such programmes;

(e) discharging any functions under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 or (in Scotland) Part 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 ;

(f) determining whether a person is in receipt of housing benefit;

(g) determining the size of a dwelling occupied by a person in receipt of a relevant social security benefit and the number of persons occupying that dwelling as their home;

(h) identifying persons in receipt of a relevant social security benefit who are or may be affected by regulations relating to under-occupation, and providing appropriate types of advice, support and assistance to such persons;

(i) identifying persons in receipt of a relevant social security benefit who are or may be affected by the benefit cap, and providing appropriate types of advice, support and assistance to such persons;

(j) determining the amount of housing benefit payable to a housing benefit claimant by reference to the local housing allowance;

(k) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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