The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Schemes for Assisting Persons to Obtain Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 2017

Made: 23rd October 2017

Laid before Parliament: 26th October 2017

Coming into force: 20th November 2017

In accordance with section 173(1)(b) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992[^f00002], the Secretary of State has obtained the agreement of the Social Security Advisory Committee that the proposals in respect of these Regulations should not be referred to it.

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Schemes for Assisting Persons to Obtain Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 and come into force on 20th November 2017.

Amendment of the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Schemes for Assisting Persons to Obtain Employment) Regulations 2013

2

• (1) The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Schemes for Assisting Persons to Obtain Employment) Regulations 2013[^f00003] are amended as follows.

• (2) In regulation 3 (schemes for assisting persons to obtain employment)—

• (a) omit paragraphs (2), (3) and (8A);

• (b) before paragraph (9) insert—

(8C) The Work and Health Programme is a scheme designed to assist a claimant who is long-term unemployed in which, for a period of up to 456 calendar days, the claimant is given such support, and required to participate in such activity, as the provider of the Work and Health Programme considers appropriate and reasonable in the claimant’s circumstances to assist the claimant to obtain and sustain employment.

; and

• (c) in paragraph (9) omit the definitions of “EHC plan”, “Learning Difficulty Assessment” and “work history”.

Signed

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Penny Mordaunt — Minister of State — Department for Work and Pensions — 23rd October 2017

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations amend the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Schemes for Assisting Persons to Obtain Employment) Regulations 2013 (“the 2013 Regulations”) so as to prescribe the Work and Health Programme for the purposes of section 17A of the Jobseekers Act 1995 in addition to the schemes already prescribed.

This means that persons claiming a jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) who are selected under regulation 4 of the 2013 Regulations are required to participate in the Work and Health Programme. A claimant who fails without good reason to comply with such a requirement is liable to a benefit sanction, i.e. the reduction or loss of JSA for a period of several weeks.

These Regulations also remove three schemes from the 2013 Regulations – Day One Support for Young People, the Derbyshire Mandatory Youth Activity Programme and Community Work Placements – as these schemes are no longer in use, and remove definitions that are no longer necessary.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on the private sector or civil society organisations.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1995 c. 18. See section 35(1) for the definition of “prescribed” and “regulations”. Section 17A was inserted by section 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2009 (c. 24). Part 4 of Schedule 14 to the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c. 5) repeals section 17A and that repeal has been commenced for certain purposes by a series of commencement orders the last of which is S.I. 2016/407. Section 17A remains in force for the purpose of making these Regulations in relation to claimants who continue to be entitled to Jobseeker’s Allowance.

[^f00002]: 1992 c. 5.

[^f00003]: S.I. 2013/276, amended by S.I. 2013/2584, 2014/2103 and 2015/336.