Welfare reform regulations and policy briefing notes
The following regulations relating to the Welfare Reform Act 2012 are published on the legislation.gov.uk website.
- Benefit Cap (Housing Benefit) regulations 2012 – amend the Housing Benefit regulations to introduce a benefit cap.
- Claims and payments amendment regulations 2013 – make changes to the cost mortgage lenders pay towards the mortgage interest direct scheme.
- Claims and payments regulations for Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance 2013 – update existing provisions and makes new provisions, for example to pay Universal Credit 1 month in arrears.
- Council Tax Benefit abolition (consequential provision) regulations 2013 – remove or amend references to Council Tax Benefit in various statutory instruments.
- Decisions and appeals regulations for Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance 2013 – update existing provisions on how decisions are made, including a new requirement for decisions to be reconsidered before claimants can appeal.
- Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Carer's Allowance amendment regulations 2013 – allow for changes to certain rules on residence, absences abroad, age limits and hospital and care homes.
- Employment and Support Allowance regulations 2013 – remove income-related rules and brings contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance into line with Universal Credit on labour market requirements.
- Employment and Support Allowance sanctions amendment regulations 2012 – align the Employment and Support Allowance sanctions regime with Universal Credit and introduce hardship payments prior to introduction of Universal Credit.
- Housing Benefit amendment regulations – introduce a requirement to set a maximum rent in the social rented sector using the local housing allowance size criteria. They also make changes to the time and circumstances in which a case subject to the local housing allowance is reviewed.
- Information-sharing in relation to welfare services etc amendment and prescribed bodies regulations 2013 – allow DWP and other bodies responsible for certain local welfare services, such as Housing Benefit, council tax and local welfare provision, to share information.
- Jobseeker’s Allowance regulations 2013 – remove income-related rules and bring contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance into line with Universal Credit on labour market requirements.
- Jobseeker’s Allowance sanctions amendment regulations 2012 – introduce a new sanctions regime for Jobseeker’s Allowance.
- Loss of benefit amendment regulations 2013 – change the reduction applied to some means-tested benefits and to hardship arrangements. They also sets out the 'serious fraud' offences which attract an immediate 3 year loss of benefit.
- Overpayments and recovery regulations 2013 – set out rules for calculating and recovering overpayments of Universal Credit, certain Tax Credits and contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance.
- Payments on account of benefit regulations 2013 – replace interim payments and some crisis loans with Universal Credit Advances and Short Term Benefit Advances and replace Budgeting Loans with Budgeting Advances.
- Personal Independence Payment regulations 2013 – set out the main rules for Personal Independence Payment, including the assessment criteria, and payment amounts.
- Personal Independence Payment amendment regulations 2013 – make clear that, when assessing whether an individual can carry out an activity, we must look at whether they can do so safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period.
- Personal Independence Payment supplementary provisions and consequential amendments regulations 2013 – allow for Personal Independence Payment claimants to qualify for certain other schemes and benefits (known as ‘passporting arrangements’).
- Personal Independence Payment transitional provisions regulations 2013 – set out the transitional arrangements for assessing existing Disability Living Allowance claimants for Personal Independence Payment.
- Rent officers (Universal Credit functions) order 2013 – allow for rent officers in England, Wales and Scotland to make decisions about housing costs relating to Universal Credit.
- Universal Credit regulations 2013 – set out the main rules for Universal Credit, including entitlement, elements of the award, calculation of income and capital, and claimant responsibilities. They also allow for a benefit cap.
- Universal Credit transitional provisions regulations 2013 – provide for the limited introduction of Universal Credit from 29 April 2013 for certain claimants who will participate in the ‘Pathfinder’.
SSAC consultation and Government response
The Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) consulted on:
- Universal Credit Regulations 2012
- Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment and Working-age Benefits (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2012
- Housing Benefit (Benefit Cap) Regulations 2012
On 10 December 2012 the SSAC published their report on the consultation and the Government published its response.
Policy briefing notes
Universal Credit
- Transitional Protection (34KB)
– published 10 December 2012
Personal Independence Payment
New briefing notes on reassessment and impacts (the timetable for introducing Personal Independemce Payment and caseload estimates) and evaluation proposals published 13 December 2012.
Archived Universal Credit briefing notes
We previously published a series of briefing notes to set out key elements of policy relating to Universal Credit and provide greater clarity as the Welfare Reform Bill progressed through parliament. These previous briefing notes are superseded by the draft regulations and new briefing notes published on this page. The previous briefing notes are available for information.
