child care costs in universal credit

Client is single parent with 2 children (ages 10 & 3). She works 18 hrs a week and was in receipt of HB, CTC and tax credits including child care costs of £969pm which she says were covered entirely within her TC award.
The client moved to a full service UC borough in November 2017 so she had to make a UC claim - she thinks end Nov/beginning Dec . Her child care provider expects payment middle of every month.
The client has submitted all requested pwork about her child care costs but has been told they can only be repaid within UC once she provides a receipt that she has paid them.  She can’t pay them as she hasn’t enough money … She has been told by her child care provider today that unless she pays what she owes tomorrow (£969 x2 to cover December and January), her children will no longer be able to attend child care.
Client will be unable to work and she will be left with a debt which she cannot pay.

We phoned the UC helpline who insisted that the only help available is a change of circumstances advance of £363.63 . At the moment, she doesn’t think she can attend her job on Wednesday as child care for her 3 year old is in doubt.
Is this right? Can a single parent with no savings who is able to work only because of the payment of child care costs be expected to cope with a UC system which only repays the child care costs after they’ve been paid by the client?

My understanding is that this is, sadly, exactly how UC is designed to work, childcare costs paid in advance by claimant, and then evidence supplied to UC of payment within the assessment period to which they relate, which should trigger payment.  Sorry I am not able at the moment to link to this rule, but it is in the full service amendment regs.

This is one of the major issues raised by (? Work & Pensions Committee ? ) and your case would be of interest to CPAG I would think who are gathering evidence.

In the meantime, could your claimant’s council be approached to request a local welfare assistance crisis payment direct to the childcare provider to top up the advance?  It is a crisis if the situation will put her job at risk and the future of the childcare placement.

Just a thought….

Been looking into reporting child care costs , how and when, and noticed that UC reg 33 says
“(2) The childcare costs condition is only met in respect of an assessment period if those charges are reported to the Secretary of State before the end of the assessment period following the assessment period in which they are paid. “

Now I’m not sure if there’s another reg that says something different, but it seems to me that there’s a big difference between an insistence on when they’re “reported* and when they’re “evidenced”.

So could she report the amount within the time limits and provide the receipts as evidence later?

mycatismo - 20 February 2017 03:54 PM

Just a thought….

Been looking into reporting child care costs , how and when, and noticed that UC reg 33 says
“(2) The childcare costs condition is only met in respect of an assessment period if those charges are reported to the Secretary of State before the end of the assessment period following the assessment period in which they are paid. “

Now I’m not sure if there’s another reg that says something different, but it seems to me that there’s a big difference between an insistence on when they’re “reported* and when they’re “evidenced”.

So could she report the amount within the time limits and provide the receipts as evidence later?

don’t see how on that wording, since the reporting has to be after they are paid.  and if she hasn’t paid she can’t get receipts as evidence that she has.

Could she apply to the Flexible Support Fund at JCP?  Wasn’t this just what it was set up for, to prevent lone parents having to give up work? Even better, unlike everything else under UC, she won’t have to pay it back! However, she might be caught by the 26 week rule:
‘for lone parents to overcome financial emergencies in the first 26 weeks of employment, to help them remain in work’.
but might be worth a go though
.

1. employer give a loan?
2. could she be invoiced for the child care by the provider?  i know it says paid but that might work as its at least evidence its definitely due?

if the reg says “paid” that is what it means; “invoiced” doesn’t cut it.  and no amount of Bennion on Statutory Interpretation is, sadly, going to change that.

If, on the other hand, the regulation isn’t in fact that specific, and “paid” is something introduced other than by way of regulation, then that’s a different matter altogether and the department are glossing the law when they aren’t allowed to…

i wasnt aware that this was the process for the child care element (limited practical experience of UC) but ive just realised this creates a cracking issue where parents fall into child care arrears and end up a few months behind if they have to have “paid” the amount before the end of the next assessment period.