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Treatment of a Winter Business Grant for a self employed person by UC
Hello
Self employed person got a £6191Winter Business Grant from Local Authority. UC have treated it as income and stopped UC for several AP’s (done the ‘surplus earnings’ thing). My contention is that it should be treated as capital, as it wasn’t an SEISS but a one-off grant.
I’m aware of The Universal Credit (Coronavirus) (Self-employed Claimants and Reclaims) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 regs which says grants to help self employed with coronavirus are ignored as capital for a year, but if UC stick to arguing its income, I’d like to be able to argue that’s also ignored as income.
In referring to this reg, Revenuebenefits (on https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/universal-credit/guidance/entitlement-to-uc/self-employment/calculating-income-from-self-employment/) say:
‘Our understanding is that the other coronavirus business grants – such as the small business grant and retail/leisure grant are disregarded as income for UC purposes.’
Does anyone have anything more conclusive on this?
Are such grants capital and not income AND if they are income should they be ignored as income too?
Thank you as ever
At paragrapgh 12 here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-winter-grant-scheme/covid-winter-grant-scheme-guidance-for-local-councils it says that they are being classified as Local Welfare Provision. LWPs are disregarded indefinitely at 52483 in the DMG https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/932378/dmgch52.pdf
I couldn’t find LWP in a brief search of the ADM
Actually, that may be a different thing to Business Grants. sorry if this is a red herring
Thank you both very much.
As an aside, The worker I’m advising on this showed me the response they’d got following the mand recon request, on their client’s journal from UC: “There is no right of appeal as this is universal credit policy…”. and “If you disagree, please speak with your MP’
The worker I’m advising on this showed me the response they’d got following the mand recon request, on their client’s journal from UC: “There is no right of appeal as this is universal credit policy…”. and “If you disagree, please speak with your MP’
Well you’re quite clearly defeated then Clive. I imagine that you think it’s pointless taking it further?
:-)
indeed. But they’re right I might be speaking to the MP but not on the basis they think
Yes I remember that one.
“Be ye never so high, Universal Credit policy is above you”
Nice one. Thomas Fuller would have been proud of that one!
Generally, payments are either income or capital, not both. See some of the case law I linked to here.
There is an ADM Memo here, which suggests that business grants and loans will be treated as capital - see para 14.
Does anyone know whether the Scottish Strategic Framework Business Support Grants should be treated as capital?