Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016
Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016
2016 CHAPTER 7
An Act to make provision about reports on progress towards full employment and the apprenticeships target; to make provision about reports on the effect of certain support for troubled families; to make provision about life chances; to make provision about the benefit cap; to make provision about social security and tax credits; to make provision for loans for mortgage interest and other liabilities; and to make provision about social housing rents.
[16th March 2016]
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Reports
1 Full employment: reporting obligation
(1) The Secretary of State must lay a report before Parliament annually on the progress which has been made towards full employment, and the report must set out how the Secretary of State has interpreted “full employment” for these purposes.
(2) This section is repealed on the date of the first dissolution of Parliament after this section comes into force.
2 Apprenticeships reporting obligation
(1) In Chapter A1 of Part 1 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (apprenticeships: England), after section A7 insert—
“A8 Progress reports
(1) No later than nine months after the end of each reporting period the Secretary of State must publish—
(a) information about the progress made in the reporting period towards the apprenticeships target, and
(b) any other information about apprenticeships that the Secretary of State considers appropriate,
and must lay before Parliament a report setting out the information or indicating how it may be accessed.
(2) “The apprenticeships target” is that three million apprenticeships are entered into in England during the period beginning with 1 May 2015 and ending with 31 March 2020.
(3) The reporting periods are—
(a) the period beginning with 1 May 2015 and ending with 31 July 2016;
(b) the period beginning with 1 August 2016 and ending with 31 July 2017;
(c) the period beginning with 1 August 2017 and ending with 31 July 2018;
(d) the period beginning with 1 August 2018 and ending with 31 July 2019;
(e) the period beginning with 1 August 2019 and ending with 31 March 2020.
(4) In this section “apprenticeships” means—
(a) approved English apprenticeships;
(b) apprenticeship agreements within the meaning given in section 32;
(i) in relation to which alternative English completion conditions apply under section 1(5), and
(ii) in connection with which training is to be provided in accordance with an apprenticeship framework within the meaning given in section 12.
A reference to a section in paragraph (b) or (c) is to the section as it applies in relation to England by virtue of provision made under section 115(9) of the Deregulation Act 2015.”
(2) The duty under the section inserted by subsection (1) to publish information relating to the reporting period ending with 31 July 2016 may be discharged, wholly or partly, by the publication of information before the day on which this section comes into force.
(3) Section A8 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, and this section, are repealed on 31 March 2021.
3 Support for troubled families: reporting obligation
(1) Before the start of each financial year, the Secretary of State must issue a notice—
(a) specifying the descriptions of relevant households as regards which support provided by a local authority may constitute relevant support;
(b) specifying the matters by reference to which the progress made by a household that receives relevant support from a local authority in that year will be measured.
(2) The ways in which relevant households may be described under subsection (1)(a) include describing relevant households by reference to problems that they have.
(3) In each financial year, the Secretary of State must prepare a report about the progress made by relevant households to which local authorities have provided relevant support.
(4) A report prepared under this section may include material about progress made by relevant households to which local authorities have provided support similar to relevant support in periods falling before the coming into force of this section.
(5) A report prepared under this section may compare the progress made by such relevant households as are described in subsection (3) or (4) relative to other households in England.
(6) The Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a report prepared under this section.
(7) A report prepared under this section must be laid before Parliament before the end of the financial year in which it is prepared.
(8) For the purposes of this section, support provided by a local authority in a financial year is relevant support if—
(a) it is provided to a relevant household of a description specified under subsection (1)(a) in respect of that financial year,
(b) it is directed towards achieving progress in respect of the matters specified under subsection (1)(b) in respect of that financial year, and
(c) the Secretary of State pays a grant to the local authority under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred on that support.
(9) In this section—
(a) a reference to support provided to a household includes a reference to support provided to a member of a household;
(b) a reference to support provided by a local authority includes a reference to support provided under arrangements made by the local authority.
(10) In this section—
“child” means— (a) a person who has not attained the age of 16; (b) a person who is 16, 17 or 18 and is in full-time education; (c) a person who is 16, 17 or 18, is not in employment or full-time education and is a member of the same household as the person’s parent; (d) a person who has attained the age of 16 but not the age of 25 and for whom an EHC plan is maintained under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014 or a statement of special educational needs is maintained under section 324 of the Education Act 1996;
“education” includes training;
“financial year” means— (a) a period starting with the day on which this section comes into force and ending with the following 31 March; (b) except where paragraph (a) applies, a period of 12 months ending with 31 March;
“household” means a group of two or more persons who— (a) have the same only or main residence, and (b) share living accommodation or one meal each day;
“local authority” means— (a) a county council in England; (b) a district council for an area in England for which there is no county council; (c) a London borough council; (d) the Common Council of the City of London, in its capacity as a local authority; (e) the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
“parent”, in relation to a person, includes an individual— (a) who is not a parent of the person but does have parental responsibility for the person, or (b) who has care of the person;
“relevant household” means a household that includes— (a) a child, and (b) a person who is that child’s parent.
(11) In relation to the first financial year in which this section is in force—
(a) the requirement in subsection (1) to issue a notice before the beginning of a financial year is to be treated as a requirement to issue a notice after this section comes into force;
(b) the requirement in subsection (3) may be satisfied by a report that includes only such material as is described in subsection (4).
Children living in low-income households
4 Publication of data on children living in low-income households
(1) Before the end of the financial year beginning with 1 April 2016 and each subsequent financial year the Secretary of State must publish data on the percentage of children in the United Kingdom—
(a) who live in households whose equivalised net income for the relevant financial year is less than 60% of median equivalised net household income for that financial year;
(b) who live in households whose equivalised net income for the relevant financial year is less than 70% of median equivalised net household income for that financial year, and who experience material deprivation;
(c) who live in households whose equivalised net income for the relevant financial year is less than 60% of median equivalised net household income for the financial year beginning 1 April 2010, adjusted to take account of changes in the value of money since that financial year;
(d) who live in households whose equivalised net income has been less than 60% of median equivalised net household income in at least 3 of the last 4 survey periods.
(2) The published data must be accompanied by information on how the Secretary of State has approached the following for the purpose of the data—
(a) the meaning of “child”;
(b) the meaning of “household”;
(c) when a child is or is not living in a household;
(d) what is the income of a household for a financial year;
(e) what deductions are made in calculating the net income of a household;
(f) how net household income is equivalised;
(g) when a child experiences material deprivation;
(h) how household income is adjusted to take account of changes in the value of money since the financial year beginning 1 April 2010;
(i) the meaning of “survey period”.
(3) The published data may be accompanied by information as to how and when the...
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