toxteth
families adviser, toxteth citizens advice bureau, liverpool
Member since 20th Jul 2006
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RE: couple one with right to reside and other hasn't
Mon 03-Mar-08 05:08 PM |
This is so, and the LA should refer the wife to the local Jobcentre for an interview to get a national insurance number, under their own guidance. The next, and possibly insurmountable, problem is the "no recourse to public funds". While the husband is entitled to JSA and so will be entitled to have all of his rent covered by housing benefit, then the LA can pay housing benefit. The fact of his wife being part of his household will not give him any extra public funds, that he would not otherwise have got if he was single. If however he is only entitled to a proportion of his housing benefit, then the LA will not be able to pay him anything. This is because the housing benefit calculation rules do not allow the LA to ingore his wife for HB purposes (the rule is different for JSA and IS). They would have to include his wife in the calculation and this would fall foul of the "no recourse to public funds" rule. See Commissioners Decision R(H)7/06. Also reported as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Wilson <2006> EWCA Cib 882 (Court of Appeal decision). As you might have guessed, I've had an appeal on just this kind of issue recently!
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