The Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013
2013 No. 379
Social Security
The Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013
Made 25th February 2013
Coming into force 29th April 2013
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 2(1)(a) and (c) and (4)(a) and (c), 3(1)(c), (2)(b) and (d) and (3), 8(1) to (3), (4)(a) and (b), (5) and (6), 9(1) to (3) and (4)(a) and (b), 11A(5), 11B(2) and (3), 11D(2)(d), 11E(1), 11H(5) and (6), 11J(3), (4) and (8), 17(1), (2) and (3)(a) and (b), 18(1), (2) and (4), 20(2) to (7), 24(1), (2)(b) and (3) and 25(2) to (5) of, and paragraphs 1(3) and (4), 3(2) and 4(1)(a) and (c), (3) and (4) of Schedule 1 and paragraphs 1 to 4A, 5, 6, 9 and 10 of Schedule 2 to, the Welfare Reform Act 20071, sections 5(1A), 189(4) to (6) and 191 of the Social Security Administration Act 19922, section 21(1)(a) of the Social Security Act 19983and paragraphs 2(3) and 3 of Schedule 5 to the Welfare Reform Act 20124.
The Social Security Advisory Committee has agreed that the proposals in respect of these Regulations should not be referred to it5.
A draft of these Regulations has been laid before Parliament in accordance with section 26(1) of the Welfare Reform Act 20076and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
PART 1
General
Citation, commencement and application
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013.
(2) They come into force on 29th April 2013.
(3) They apply in relation to a particular case on any day on which section 33(1)(b) of the Welfare Reform Act 20127(abolition of income-related employment and support allowance) is in force and applies in relation to that case.
Interpretation
2. In these Regulations—
“the Act” means the Welfare Reform Act 2007;
“advanced education” means education for the purposes of—
(a) a course in preparation for a degree, a diploma of higher education, a higher national diploma, a higher national diploma of the Business and Technology Education Council or the Scottish Qualifications Authority, or a teaching qualification; or
(b) any other course which is of a standard above ordinary national diploma, a diploma of the Business and Technology Education Council or a higher or advanced higher national certificate of the Scottish Qualifications Authority or a general certificate of education (advanced level);
“benefit week” means a period of seven days ending on such day as the Secretary of State may direct, but for the purposes of calculating any payment of income “benefit week” means the period of seven days ending on—
(a) the day before the first day of the first period of seven days which—
(i) ends on such day as the Secretary of State may direct; and
(ii) follows the date of claim for an employment and support allowance; or
(b) the last day on which an employment and support allowance is paid if it is in payment for less than a week;
“carer’s allowance” means an allowance under section 70 of the Contributions and Benefits Act8;
“child” means a person under the age of 16;
“Claims and Payments Regulations 2013” means the Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 20139;
“close relative” means a parent, parent-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-parent, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister or, if any of the preceding persons is one member of a couple, the other member of that couple;
“confinement” has the meaning given to it by section 171(1) of the Contributions and Benefits Act10;
“councillor” means—
(a) in relation to England and Wales, a member of a London borough council, a county council, a county borough council, a district council, a parish or community council, the Common Council of the City of London or the Council of the Isles of Scilly; and
(b) in relation to Scotland, a member of a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 199411;
“councillor’s allowance” means—
(a) in England, an allowance under or by virtue of—
(i) section 173 or 177 of the Local Government Act 197212; or
(ii) a scheme made by virtue of section 18 of the Local Government and Housing Act 198913,
other than such an allowance as is mentioned in section 173(4) of the Local Government Act 1972;
(b) in Wales, an allowance under or by virtue of a scheme made by virtue of section 18 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 other than such an allowance as is mentioned in section 173(4) of the Local Government Act 1972; or
(c) in Scotland, an allowance or remuneration under or by virtue of—
(i) a scheme made by virtue of section 18 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989; or
(ii) section 11 of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 200414;
“couple” means—
(a) a man and woman who are married to each other and are members of the same household;
(b) a man and woman who are not married to each other but are living together as husband and wife;
(c) two people of the same sex who are civil partners of each other and are members of the same household; or
(d) two people of the same sex who are not civil partners of each other but are living together as if they were civil partners,
and for the purposes of paragraph (d), two people of the same sex are to be regarded as living together as if they were civil partners only if they would be regarded as living together as husband and wife were they instead two people of the opposite sex;
“Decisions and Appeals Regulations 1999” means the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 199915;
“Decisions and Appeals Regulations 2013” means the Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 201316;
“descriptor” means, in relation to an activity specified in column (1) of Schedule 2, a descriptor in column (2) of that Schedule which describes a person’s ability to perform that activity;
“employed earner” is to be construed in accordance with section 2(1)(a) of the Contributions and Benefits Act17;
“employment” includes any trade, business, profession, office or vocation; and “employed” has a corresponding meaning;
“enactment” includes an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament or the National Assembly of Wales;
“family” means—
(a) a couple;
(b) a couple and a member of the same household for whom one of them is or both are responsible and who is a child or a young person;
(c) a person who is not a member of a couple and a member of the same household for whom that person is responsible and who is a child or a young person;
“first contribution condition” means the condition set out in paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 1 to the Act18;
“First-tier Tribunal” has the meaning given by section 3(1) of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 200719;
“health care professional” means—
(a) a registered medical practitioner;
(b) a registered nurse; or
(c) an occupational therapist or physiotherapist registered with a regulatory body established by an Order in Council under section 60 of the Health Act 199920;
“Health Service Act” means the National Health Service Act 200621;
“Health Service (Wales) Act” means the National Health Service (Wales) Act 200622;
“Income Support Regulations” means the Income Support (General) Regulations 198723;
“limited capability for work assessment” means the assessment described in regulation 15(2) and in Schedule 2;
“Medical Evidence Regulations” means the Social Security (Medical Evidence) Regulations 197624;
“medical treatment” means medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment (including any course or diet or other regimen), and references to a person receiving or submitting to medical treatment are to be construed accordingly;
“member of Her Majesty’s forces” means a person, other than one mentioned in Part 2 of Schedule 1, who is—
(a) over 16 years of age; and
(b) a member of an establishment or organisation specified in Part 1 of that Schedule,
but does not include any such person while absent on desertion;
“National Minimum Wage” means the rate of the national minimum wage specified in regulation 11 of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 199925(rate of the national minimum wage);
“net earnings” means such earnings as are calculated in accordance with regulation 81;
“occupational pension scheme” has the meaning given by section 1 of the Pension Schemes Act 199326;
“part-time employment” means, if the claimant were entitled to income support, employment in which the claimant is not to be treated as engaged in remunerative work under regulation 5 or 6(1) and (4) of the Income Support Regulations (persons treated, or not treated, as engaged in remunerative work)27;
“partner” means—
(a) where a claimant is a member of a couple, the other member of that couple; or
(b) where a claimant is a husband or wife by virtue of a polygamous marriage, the other party to the marriage or any spouse additional to either party to the marriage;
“payment” includes a part of a payment;
“pay period” means the period in respect of which a claimant is, or expects to be, normally paid by the claimant’s employer, being a week, a fortnight, four weeks, a month or other shorter or longer period as the case may be;
“period of limited capability for work” means, except in regulation 3(2), a period throughout which a person has, or is treated as having, limited capability for work under these Regulations, and does not include a period which is outside the prescribed time for claiming as specified in regulation 28 of the Claims and Payments Regulations 2013;
“permanent health insurance payment” means any periodical payment arranged by an employer under an insurance policy providing benefits in...
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