I know I should know this, but it is monday morning in the midst of the European championships, so I hope my obtuseness will be forgiven.

My client's daughter, who has ADHD, attends a residential school Mon-Thurs. Her mum gets DLA care component for the days she spends at home, including the days she comes home and returns to school. The IS however (personal allowance, family permium and dicable child premium) is only paid for the days that she spends a night at home, so not the day she travels back.

The NWBH failed to provide me with an answer to this apparent inconsistency, so I dull-wittedly trawled through the regs, but can only see that reg.16(6) speaks of a child being treated as in the household in these circumstances if the child "lives with the claimant".

Can somebody with a sharper brain please point me in the directions of the legislation which explains the proper appraoch, or preferably just give me the answer! Thanks.

Steve Lee

Steve - I know how you felt Monday morning after the last 4 minutes of the Sunday evening game. Are they taking bribes, or what!

Anyway, reg 16(6) seems to be the only authority and this gives no indication of how to calculate the number of days at home for a child in care or at residential school. The notes in Wood/Mesher don't say, either. My memory from being too long in this business tells me that the old DSS used to count the nights, as is clearly happening in your case. But they'd more or less made this up on the hoof (no doubt based on In-Patient Regs saying something similar).

But now ... guess what? DWP in the Decision Maker's Guide takes a more liberal tack! Look at the DMG on www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/dmg - go to Volume 4 para 22080.
It says to allow for the date of coming home and the date of return to care as days at home! The para even gives an example to illustrate the point. I presume the residential school placement is LA-financed under a 'relevant enactment'? If so, you can ask your local DM why he's disregarding DMG advice.

Jim

Jim, many thanks. That should do the trick.

I have always been a firm believer that the three weeks of any major international football championship should be a national holiday. It's uncanny how often I seem to wake up with wits dulled while they are on!

Steve

Well ... the England team don't seem able to wake up at all !

Jim