Universal Credit and paying for social care charges

Reg 7(b) of The Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 states that £82.95 p/w in respect of each child in the household is disregarded http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2672/pdfs/uksi_20142672_en.pdf

Something nagging in my head that this SI may not have been fully enacted, someone will know better than me.

On the face of it, I agree with JAS1. The amount at regulation 7 is not a disregard of income, but an amount to be included in the person’s guaranteed minimum income. Child tax credit is specifically disregarded under paragraph 39 of Part 1 Schedule 1.

Brian JB - 23 April 2019 02:00 PM

On the face of it, I agree with JAS1. The amount at regulation 7 is not a disregard of income, but an amount to be included in the person’s guaranteed minimum income. Child tax credit is specifically disregarded under paragraph 39 of Part 1 Schedule 1.

Exactly.

It’s also a good illustration of how bad the social care charging rules are generally, as they use Income Support as the proxy measure in various ways and as that benefit is being phased out by UC, I wonder how this will work (or not work) over time.

Brian JB - 23 April 2019 02:00 PM

The amount at regulation 7 is not a disregard of income, but an amount to be included in the person’s guaranteed minimum income.

But other than the terminology is the effect not the same when doing the calculation? E.g. page 17 here https://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Help to pay your non-residential social care and support costs.pdf :

“The tables below show you how much income (including tariff income) a person is allowed before paying anything for their services. A person with income below these levels will qualify for full financial assistance and will not have to pay for their services, except for meals and respite care which are charged at flat rates (see page 5). If you are responsible for children who live in the same house as you, an extra £83.65 per child will be added to the amounts below.”

Which other than a £1 or so for the oldest child would cover UC Child element plus Child benefit even if not specifically covered by the regs, wouldn’t it?

Admittedly terminology is usually rather important so I am probably misunderstanding something? Would be grateful for an explanation as I’m confused.

Edit
if that link doesn’t work its attached below

The guaranteed minimum income amount is the aggregate of -
-  the amount specified in relation to that adult;
-  an amount in respect of each child the adult is responsible for and who is a member of the same household); and
-  any applicable premium

It is only the income above this aggregate amount that is potentially chargeable by the LA.

Therefore, as JAS1 indicated, under legacy benefits a person who is responsible for a child will have an additional £83.65 included in that aggregate figure, yet the child tax credit will be disregarded as an income. As Universal Credit is not a disregarded income, it can be taken into account in full. Therefore, it is potentially more likely that the person will have income above the guaranteed minimum amount which is chargeable, as there is more income that can be taken into account

Thanks Brian, that explains it to me perfectly

Thanks all.

This seems like it could be pretty unfair to people who have the bad luck to be on UC rather than CTC.

I think I will contact out council’s finance department to see if they have come across this or if they do anything about it (probably not but worth a shot). Will update if they say anything of interest.

Speedy response from Manchester case management -

‘Universal Credit is counted but not the Housing Elements or the child elements - these are disregarded.’

So looks like UC child elements are treated same as CTC (at least in Manchester)