Disregarded CTC as income ref childcare?

Pardon my HB ignorance but i have a query.

I have a client in receipt of CTC WTC and HB

She has childcare element of WTC, and this extra income is disregarded for HB purposes

The client is now in receipt of SSP but still gets Childcare element of WTC as the child still uses the nursery, and the client doesnt want to lose the nursery place for the child when she returns to work.

HB are now refusing to disregard the £80 a week as they insist that the client can look after the child while off sick. The nursery fees are still being paid, and tax credits are happy to pay the childcare element as long as the child attends nursery.

Can HB do this? Can they insist that the child be taken out of nursery and cared for by my client?
I believe that this childcare element should still be disregarded for HB. Do i have a case here?

Thanks in advance.

The disregard should continue to apply for 28 weeks while the claimant is on SSP or ESA: fo this length of time they remain in “remunerative work” for HB purposes.  It is being in remunerative work that triggers the disregard in HB - there is nothing in HB Reg 28 that requires the payment of child care fees to be linked to the work, it’s just taken for granted.  This is useful if the claimant’s kids are in a popular place with a queue for vacancies - if she took them, out of there they might not get back in when she returns to work