Welfare Reform Bill

Page 3, line 32, at end insert—

“( ) Regulations must make provision for claimants to require payment of universal credit to be received more frequently than would otherwise be the case under subsections (1) and (3).”

Page 3, line 35, leave out from “payable” to end of line 36 and insert “twice a month”

Page 3, line 40, at end insert—

“( ) The Secretary of State shall conduct a review into the impact of payment arrangements on claimants, to conclude one year after the coming into force of this Act, and shall publish a report on the review to both Houses of Parliament.”

Page 4, line 8, at end insert—

“(ba) any amount of support for disabled children included under section 10 should be no less than the amount that was provided under the benefits and tax credits system prior to the introduction of the Universal Credit,”

Page 4, line 9, after “costs” insert “and council tax benefit”

Page 4, line 11, at end insert—

“Such amounts are to include an amount of earnings to be disregarded where a claimant has regular and substantial caring responsibilities.”

Page 4, line 18, at end insert—

“( ) Regulations may specify that the pension contributions of single, or either of joint claimants, are to be disregarded when calculating either earned or unearned income.”

Page 4, line 21, at end insert—

“(5) Regulations are to specify the amount of tariff income from capital that is to be included as unearned income, including specifying different amounts for in work and out of work claimants.”

Page 4, line 21, at end insert—

“(5) The Secretary of State shall conduct a review into the impact of the calculation of universal credit on a) claimants’ ability to access childcare, and b) the impact on the work incentives for second earners, to conclude one year after the coming into force of this provision, and shall publish a report on the review to both Houses of Parliament.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Report on readiness of universal credit systems

(1) No payments of universal credit are to be made until the Secretary of State has published a report to both Houses of Parliament demonstrating that the following have been fully tested and established—

(a) the relevant Department of Work and Pensions IT system,

(b) the relevant Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs IT systems,

(c) the integration of the necessary IT systems,

(d) any necessary administrative agreements between the Department of Work and Pensions, local authorities and other delivery agents, and

(e) other systems and processes necessary for the successful delivery of the universal credit system.”

Page 4, line 29, at end insert “including where one member of a joint claim has reached state pension age”

Page 5, line 2, after “credit” insert “, subject to subsection (3A),”

Page 5, line 21, at end insert—

“(3A) In the case of alleged under-occupancy regulations may provide—

(a) in the case of a disabled person, relocation shall not be required nor shall benefit be reduced, where adaptation has occurred and local services are provided, in order to deal with the disability;

(b) in the case of a person capable of work-related activity, reduction of benefit or relocation shall not be proposed unless suitable employment is available within easy access of alternative accommodation.

(3B) Relocations may only proceed on the basis of agreement with the claimants concerned.”

Page 5, line 21, at end insert—

“(3A) In relation to a dwelling of which the landlord is a local housing authority or a registered provider of social housing, regulations under this section shall not permit the housing cost element of the universal credit to be less than the actual amount of the liability in a case where a household has no more than one spare bedroom.”

Page 5, line 23, at end insert—

“(4A) Regulations shall provide for a relevant change in circumstances to include a change in the claimant’s actual rent.”

Page 5, line 23, at end insert—

“(4A) Regulations shall provide that any non-dependents in the household are taken into account when calculating the number of bedrooms which the claimant is entitled to.”

Page 5, line 23, at end insert—

“(4A) Regulations shall provide for—

(a) the frequency with which reviews of the relationship between increases in the rental market and the CPI will be conducted;

(b) the circumstances in which increases in the rental market and CPI will be deemed to have diverged;

(c) the circumstances in which there will be considered to be a critical lack of affordable housing;

(d) the circumstances in which this will lead to a change in the method used to uprate the housing component of universal credit.”

Page 5, line 25, at end insert “including the award of council tax benefit”

Page 5, line 29, at end insert—

“(6) Regulations shall provide that where the award for housing costs is restricted to the shared accommodation rate, this shall not apply for a period of 52 weeks for any claimant aged between 25 years and 35 years, who is not an existing claimant of housing benefit.”

Page 5, line 29, at end insert—

“(6) Within one year of these regulations coming into force, an independent research review of their impact shall be laid before Parliament, and such a review to include the effects of such measures on the reduced incomes of social housing tenants and their families, the security of the rent roll of their social landlords, the depletion of tenants’ savings, levels of arrears, levels of eviction, any increased homelessness and use of temporary accommodation, the reduced prospects of pensioners for rehousing, and the likely availability of housing stock to meet the new underoccupancy standards, and related matters.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Payment of housing costs

(1) This section applies to payments of the housing cost element of the universal credit.

(2) Payment of the housing costs element of the universal credit must be made to a person’s landlord where that person has requested or consented to such payment in agreement with their landlord.

(3) Regulations made by the Secretary of State may prescribe the circumstances in which subsection (2) does not apply.

(4) Regulations made by the Secretary of State shall prescribe the person who is to be treated as the landlord for the purposes of this section and shall make provision as to the discharge of liability consequent upon the making of any payments to the landlord.”

Page 6, line 8, at end insert—

“( ) The Secretary of State shall, when imposing work-related requirements with which claimants must comply, ensure that claimants have the necessary type and level of personalised support, and access to localised support, to enable them to obtain employment, or to undertake work or work related activity.”

Page 7, line 13, at end insert “but a claimant unable to comply with the requirement to attend for interview may provide evidence to the effect from a health care professional as defined by section 16(6)”

Page 9, line 16, at end insert—

“(e) the claimant is receiving specified treatment for cancer, is recovering from that treatment or is likely to receive such treatment within 6 months”

Page 11, line 34, leave out “for a period of 13 weeks” and insert “while the threat of domestic violence exists”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Review of in-work conditionality

The Secretary of State shall conduct a review into the operation of in-work conditionality, including outcomes for claimants, to conclude one year after the coming into force of this Act, and annually thereafter until 2018, and shall publish a report on the review to both Houses of Parliament.”

Page 12, line 41, leave out “three years” and insert “one year”

Page 13, line 8, at end insert—

“( ) If the claimant has a long-term health condition or impairment, the Secretary of State must specifically address—

(a) whether the health condition or impairment had an impact on the failure to comply and, as such, should be seen as good cause,

(b) whether reasonable adjustments had been made to the process.”

Page 13, line 40, at end insert—

“( ) Under no circumstances shall the Secretary of State allow any targets to be set which would increase the number or value of sanctions issued under this Part.”

Page 13, line 41, leave out “may” and insert “shall”

Page 14, line 4, at end insert “where the claimant has demonstrated compliance with the work-related requirements”

Page 111, line 20, at end insert “, where the Secretary of State has reason to believe that a claimant has deprived himself or herself of income for the purpose of securing entitlement to universal credit”

Page 126, line 3, leave out “and (2)” and insert “(2), (2A), (3) and (4)”

Page 126, line 3, at end insert—

“( ) section 1B(1) (as inserted by section (Further entitlement after time-limiting) of this Act;”

Page 22, line 13, at end insert—

“( ) A claimant shall not be invited to accept a claimant commitment by an employment officer unless the employment officer has taken steps to ensure, and is satisfied, that the claimant will have the necessary type and level of personalised support, and access to localised support, to enable them to comply with the claimant commitment and to obtain employment, or to undertake work or work related activity.”

Page 24, line 33, at end insert—

“(2A) Sanctions may not be applied under subsection (2)(a) in cases where the employee disputes that dismissal was fair and has instituted proceedings accordingly.”

Page 36, line 33, at end insert “by virtue of the first and second conditions set out in Part 1 of Schedule 1”

Page 36, line 34, leave out “365 days” and insert “a prescribed number of days which must be at least 730”

Page 37, line 4, at end insert—

“(2A) The period for which a person is entitled to a contributory allowance by virtue of the third condition set out in Part 1 of Schedule 1 (youth) shall not exceed 365 days.”

Page 37, line 5, after “(1)” insert “or (2A)”

Page 37, line 14, after “(1)” insert “or (2A)”

Page 37, line 22, at end insert—

“( ) Where a person has, within the previous 5 years of the date of the claim, ceased to be entitled to a contributory employment and support allowance by virtue of section 1A(1) of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 and—

(a) has limited capability for work-related activity, and

(b) since he or she last ceased to be entitled to a contributory employment support allowance, has had limited capability for work for the purposes of Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act,

they shall be entitled to the contributory allowance.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Further entitlement after time-limiting

(1) After section 1A of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (as inserted by section 51 above) there is inserted—

“1B Further entitlement after time-limiting

(1) Where a person’s entitlement to a contributory allowance has ceased as a result of section 1A(1) or (2A) but—

(a) the person has not at any subsequent time ceased to have (or to be treated as having) limited capability for work,

(b) the person satisfies the basic conditions, and

(c) the person has (or is treated as having) limited capability for work-related activity,

the claimant is entitled to an employment and support allowance by virtue of this section.

(2) An employment and support allowance entitlement to which is based on this section is to be regarded as a contributory allowance for the purposes of this Part.”

(2) In section 1 of that Act (employment and support allowance), in the definition of “contributory allowance” in subsection (7), after “subsection (2)(a)” there is inserted “(and see section 1B(2))”.”

Page 37, line 24, leave out subsections (1) to (6) and insert—

“In section 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (employment and support allowance), after subsection (3) there is inserted—

“(3A) After the coming into force of this subsection no claim may be made for an employment and support allowance by virtue of the third condition set out in Part 1 of Schedule 1 (youth).””

Leave out Clause 52

Leave out Clause 52 and insert the following new Clause—

“Condition relating to youth

In paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (Condition relating to youth), after sub-paragraph (1)(d), insert—

“(e) after the assessment phase has ended, the claimant has limited capacity for work-related activity.””

Page 41, line 46, at end insert—

“(e) the claimant is receiving specified treatment for cancer, is recovering from that treatment or is likely to receive such treatment within 6 months”

Page 53, line 25, at end insert—

“(3A) These provisions are subject to the provisions relating to under-occupancy in section 11(3A).”

Page 53, line 25, at end insert—

“(4) After subsection (7) insert—

“( ) In relation to a dwelling of which the landlord is a local housing authority or a registered provider of social housing, regulations under this section shall not permit the AMHB to be less than the actual amount of the liability in a case where a household has no more than one spare bedroom.””

Page 54, line 8, at end insert “providing those amounts are ring-fenced for the purpose set out in that Act”

Page 58, line 30, leave out “6” and insert “3”

Page 58, line 34, leave out “6” and insert “9”

Page 58, line 46, leave out “6 months” means the 6” and insert “3 months” means the 3”

Page 59, line 1, leave out “6 months” means the 6” and insert “9 months” means the 9”

Page 61, line 14, leave out subsection (3) and insert—

“( ) Regulations will prescribe what considerations must be taken into account in deciding whether a fixed term award would be appropriate.”

Page 61, line 15, at end insert—

“( ) Regulations must provide that a fixed term award would not be deemed appropriate where sufficient medical or other expert evidence from a relevant care professional indicates that a claimant has a lifelong condition or disability of a degenerative nature that means that the claimant is likely to continue to meet the requirements of section 76(1) or section 78(1) (or both), as appropriate, indefinitely.”

Page 62, line 32, at end insert “including those aged 16 to 24”

Page 62, line 40, at end insert “and those aged 16 to 24”

Page 63, line 25, after “benefits” insert “with the exclusion of child benefit”

Page 64, line 5, at end insert—

“( ) Regulations under this section shall provide that the benefit cap shall not be applied for the first 26 weeks from the date on which the claimant’s total entitlement to welfare benefits exceeds the relevant amount.”

Page 64, line 6, at end insert—

“( ) Regulations under this section must provide for an exemption from the application of the benefit cap for individuals or couples owed a duty to be provided with interim or temporary accommodation under section 188, 190, 193 or 200 of the Housing Act 1996.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Benefits payments to prisoners

(1) Regulations shall provide that a person undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody who, at the time that imprisonment or custody commences, is in receipt of any of the qualifying benefits, shall be assessed, during his time in imprisonment or custody, for eligibility for those benefits at the time of his release from imprisonment or custody.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the qualifying benefits are—

(a) universal credit;

(b) jobseeker’s allowance;

(c) employment and support allowance;

(d) income support;

(e) personal independence payment, to the extent provided for in regulations made under section 84 (prisoners) above; and

(f) any other benefits provided for in regulations made under this section.

(3) Regulations made under this section shall provide that the assessment required under subsection (1) shall commence as soon as a person is received into imprisonment or custody.

(4) Regulations shall in particular provide that a person appointed by the Secretary of State shall record, at the time a person is received into imprisonment or custody, details of any qualifying benefits which are in payment at that time, together with any personal information needed to establish the person’s identity, including but not limited to their national insurance number.

(5) An assessment of eligibility under subsection (1) shall be completed in such time as to ensure that the person assessed receives payment of any benefits for which he is assessed as being eligible no later than one week after his release from imprisonment or custody.

(6) Regulations under this section shall be made by the Secretary of State and shall be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.”

Page 165, line 19, at end insert “and “that Part of””

Page 165, line 23, at end insert—

Page 165, line 29, leave out “and (2)” and insert “(in both places), (2) and (2A)”

Page 165, line 29, at end insert—

Page 166, line 51, at end insert—