Income Support (Transitional Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008.

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A decision made (21/01/2008) regarding: Income Support (Transitional Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008.

Decision Reference: MD-S-2008-0009
Decision Summary Title :	DS - Income Support (Trans Prov) (Jsy) Order 2008		Date of Decision Summary:	10 January 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Sue Duhamel, Strategy Analyst		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :	WR - Income Support (Trans Prov) (Jsy) Order 2008		Date of Written Report:	10 January 2008
Written Report Author:	Sue Duhamel, Strategy Analyst		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Income Support (Transitional Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008
Decision(s): The Minister made the Income Support (Transitional Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008.
Reason(s) for Decision: The Minister approved the Order that makes provision for persons in receipt of benefits that cease on the implementation of the new income support scheme and special provision for persons who move into residential care before new funding arrangements following on from income support are in place. The Order will be reviewed later in 2008 following an analysis of the number of transitional claims made.
Resource Implications: There are no manpower implications. A total of £22.5 million has been made available to provide protection to households who may be affected by the introduction of the new Income Support scheme. The Treasury & Resources Minister has approved increases to the Departments annual cash limit as part of the Income Support budget to meet the cost of the protection. Claimants on Income support will be protected fully until 30 September 2008 and then a phased reduction in protection applies.
Action required: Notify the Greffe and the Law Draftsman that the Order has been made and forward the signed and sealed Order to the Greffe for notification to the States.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Income Support (Transitional Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008.

REPORT - Income Support (Transitional Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008

This Order makes provision for persons in receipt of benefits that cease on the implementation of the new income support scheme and special provision for persons who move into residential care before new funding arrangements following on from income support are in place.

Article 1 contains the definitions.

Article 2 sets out the general conditions that entitle a household to a protected payment. A member of the household must be eligible for and have claimed a “replaced benefit”, which is a benefit that ceases to be payable on the commencement of the new income scheme apart from the Health Insurance Exemption Scheme (“HIE”) and, in the case of persons who do not meet the period of ordinary residence required for income support, childcare allowance and the school age discount scheme. The total payable to the person’s household in respect of replaced benefits must be at least £2 a week. A member of the person’s household must claim income support to get a protected payment, even if the person or household is not eligible for income support (in which case the income support entitlement will be assessed as nil). A protected payment is payable in addition to any income support that is payable to the household. A claim for a protected payment must be made within 1 month after the day that the new income support scheme starts and the replaced benefits are abolished (the “appointed day” – now set at 28th January 2008), unless there is sufficient reason for a claim to be made later.

Actual entitlement to a protected payment depends on Article 3. First, the household must be entitled to a top-up sum (“TUS”) which is calculated by deducting from the weekly amount of the replaced benefits to which the household was entitled immediately before the appointed day the amount of income support payable to the household on the appointed day. The protected payment is then calculated by taking the amount of the TUS remaining (after any reduction required by Article 5), adding to it the amount of income support payable to the household on the appointed day and deducting from that total the current amount of income support payable to the household. Where a protected payment as calculated under Article 3 is a nil or negative amount, entitlement to a protected payment shall cease.

Article 4 covers changes in entitlement to a protected payment. Where a replaced benefit, if still payable, would have ceased to be payable due to a change in the household’s circumstances, the TUS is recalculated on the basis of the replaced benefits that would have still been payable immediately before the appointed day (had they not been abolished). The calculation is on the basis that the change in circumstances had existed then and on the basis of the income support that would have been payable on the appointed day if the change in circumstances had existed then. Protected payments are phased out completely after 30th September 2012.

The amount of the top-up sum is subject to the phasing out and percentage reductions set out Article 5 and the Schedule as follows:

(1) In the case of a household whose calculated income puts it more than 3 times over the amount that would entitle it to income support, the TUS is phased out completely from 1st October 2008.

(2) In the case of a household other than as described in (1) above, where the TUS is more than 25% of the household’s calculated income plus its income support payment on the appointed day, the TUS is not reduced until 1st October 2008, when it is reduced to 80% and thereafter the percentage is reduced each year to 60%, 40% and then 20% from 1st October 2011, which date begins the last year in which protected payments are paid.

(3) In the case of a household other than as described in (1) or (2) above where a member of the household was over 65 or was entitled to attendance allowance, disabled adult’s allowance, disabled child’s allowance or disability transport allowance, the TUS is not reduced until 1st October 2008, when it is reduced to 75% and thereafter the percentage is reduced each year to 50%, 25% and then 0% from 1st October 2011.

In any other case the TUS is not reduced until 1st October 2008, when it is reduced to 66% and then the following year to 33% and then 0% from 1st October 2010.

Article 6 provides that in the case of persons in residential care, the TUS in not subject to any reduction under Article 5 until the Minister has approved a contract for the payment of fees in respect of the person’s care.

Article 7 provides that where persons were, immediately prior to the start of the income support scheme, in receipt of benefits relating to the person’s medical condition, the household is entitled to specified levels of the impairment component of income support until a determining officer determines entitlement to that component under the Income Support (Jersey) Regulations 200-.

Article 8 is a special provision to cover people who meet the criteria for the highest level of the personal care element of the impairment component of income support and who move into residential care after the appointed day but before the new contracts referred to in relation to Article 6 are in place. For the period up to when those contracts apply, there is provision for the Minister to pay to persons in need of assistance who meet the criteria for the level of impairment requiring residential care, such sum as the Minister considers appropriate up to the reasonable cost of providing care to someone of the person’s age and level of impairment.

Article 9 applies the provisions of the Income Support (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008 governing claims, determinations and appeals to claims for payment under this Order.

Article 10 provides for the citation of the Order and for it to come into force on 28th January, the day appointed for the new income support scheme to come in.