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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Income support, JSA and tax credits  →  Thread

Access to SSMG via child tax credit

WillH
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This appears to have been opened up considerably to give those who would have had access before the family element was removed, access from 6 April 2017.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/271/contents/made

As far as I can see, the effect is that any amount of CTC would passport you to SSMG, given an award has to include at least one individual element (most but not all SSMG claimants will be claiming for their first child anyway).

Massive thanks to MJ Haran for alerting me to these, they were on Rightsnet news page on 9th March. Would love someone else to have a look!

Will

[ Edited: 17 Mar 2017 at 12:23 pm by WillH ]
Jon Blackwell
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Doesn’t the taper hierarchy: with CTC(non FE) and lastly CTC(FE) coming at the end mean that it amounts to the same thing as before - ie cases where the income taper doesn’t extinguish the non FE elements (and that’s regardless of whether a FE is included in the max amount or not)?

 

Stuart
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That’s how I see it too - the regulations (rightsnet news Miscellaneous amendments to social fund payments) change eligibility test from ‘CTC payable at a rate higher than the family element’ to any ‘award’ of CTC where it includes an individual child element or a disability element - so no reference to payability of CTC either- agree that this should include (unlike now) awards where only family element is payable. Any other views?

Jon Blackwell
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stuart - 17 March 2017 10:36 AM

That’s how I see it too - the regulations ....change eligibility test from ‘CTC payable at a rate higher than the family element’ to any ‘award’ of CTC where it includes an individual child element or a disability element - so no reference to payability of CTC either- agree that this should include (unlike now) awards where only family element is payable. Any other views?

But an award where only a family element is payable doesn’t include the other CTC elements, does it?

Or are you reading “awarded CTC ... which includes an individual element or a disability element ” as extending to “awarded CTC…. the calculation of which includes an individual element or a disability element”?

 

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Jon Blackwell - 17 March 2017 10:47 AM

But an award where only a family element is payable doesn’t include the other CTC elements, does it?

Or are you reading “awarded CTC ... which includes an individual element or a disability element ” as extending to “awarded CTC…. the calculation of which includes an individual element or a disability element”?

Your second interpretation is what I was thinking - that by removing ‘payability’ from the eligibil;ity test, this suggests that it’s the calculation of the award that is now the thing to look at rather than money received?

shawn mach
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WillH
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Shawn -  just to say that I agree with your interpretation due to the change of wording. It’s the calculation that matters. However, I think some CTC must be in payment (so no access to grant via a nil award….surely!)

WillH
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To be a bit more expansive:

my thought is that since any award of CTC will include a child element for the first child (I know some SSMG claimants may have children over 16, and in some cases they will have two, but leaving that complexity for now!), then as long as any CTC is payable, the conditions for SSMG are met.

The family element won’t be included in the calculation unless there are children born before 6 April 2017 (who would have to be over 16 to meet SSMG rules), so that means income will reduce CTC more quickly, but as long as there is nevertheless some child element, or some disability element, in payment, even if not the whole of that element, the parent meets the conditions.

‘which includes an individual element or a disability element’

Umm, hard to say whether the whole element would need to be payable, but I think if it did, they would say ‘payable’, not ‘includes’ - I’m with Shawn that this refers to the calculation….

WillH
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PS Shawn, just noticed that of course they were already on Rightsnet, and have edited the first post accordingly!

WillH
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Jon - I also agree that this does in a way amount to same thing as before - income has not extinguished the nonFE elements, regardless of whether there is an FE or not. I just hope it is correct that those other elements do not have to be payable in full. I think it would say so if that was intended.