Hi

I’ve got a lone parent service user with two children (2yr and 1wk) and she sends the 2yr old to nursery, and was receiving the child care costs disregard within her housing benefit.

However, HB dept have advised her to take the child out of nursery and they have removed the child care cost disregard (said that as she was now at home on Maternity Leave she shouldn’t be sending her 2yr old to nursery)!!!

I’ve contacted HB dept who confirmed that as she is on Maternity Allowance the disregard doesn’t apply??! They said that if she was on SMP the rules would be different?? HB are adamant this decision is correct.

Am I correct in thinking that the child care disregard should apply as she is on Maternity Allowance which is still classed as remunerative work? (Prior to going on Maternity Allowance she was off work sick for 4 wks claiming Incapacity Benefit).

Would appreciate any help

I think the authority is right in this case. The key is Regulation 21A(7):

.....a person on maternity leave.....shall be treated as if she is engaged in remunerative work ......provided that -

(a) in the week before the period of maternity leave.....began she was in remunerative work.....

Remunerative work is defined in Regulation 4, and paragraph (6) states:

A person shall not be treated as engaged in remunerative work on any day on which the person.....is absent from work because he is ill.

Therefore, if she was off sick before going on maternity leave she cannot be treated as having been in remunerative work, and therefore falls outside the provisions of Reg. 21A(7).

Had she not been off sick, then she would be entitled to the childcare disregard once her maternity leave started.

Think I would agree, too. The Guidance is in A26/2001 if you want to read this, as well as the above Regs.

she was in receipt of IB at the short term rate (as he employer was unable to pay her sick pay) - I was under the impression that she would still be classed as 'remunerative work' as she was claming IB at the short term rate?

Have re-read guidance and Regs. Under Reg 21A the period of sickness would still count as remunerative work, so the period of maternity leave (for up to 28 weeks) would also count as remunerative work under Reg 21A(7).

I have looked at the HB Guidance Manualand none of this is clear at all, so advise the LA of the actual Regs.

CPAG handbook and CAB information system both say maternity leave while on MA and sickness while on short-term IB count as remunerative work for HB purposes.

Hi

Reg 21A(7) refers to ‘in the week before the period of maternity leave began she was in remunerative work’.

Do you know the Reg which states that short-term IB should be classed as ‘remunerative work’?

CPAG book page 967 states:

"as long as you were working at least 16 hours a week immediately before you started getting one of the following benefits, you can still deduct charges for childcare while off work sick for the first 28 weeks while you are getting... (short-term lower rate IB)"

It refers to HB Reg 21A (1A)-(1C) as the source for this.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for this information much appreciated