Draft Income Support (Special Payments) (Cold Weather Payments) (Jersey) Amendment Regulations 202-

REPORT

Background

1. Cold  Weather  Payments  are  designed  to  help  eligible  members  of  Income  Support households with the costs of heating during cold weather months.
2. They  are  underpinned  by  the  Income  Support  (Special  Payments)  (Cold  Weather Payments) (Jersey) Regulations 2008.
3. The Regulations currently provide eligibility for payments to households where a member of the household (during a cold weather month) was:

1. under the age of 3 years;
2. over the age of 65 years;
3. entitled to the level 3 personal care element of the impairment component;
4. entitled to child personal care at level 3;
5. in receipt of long-term incapacity allowance assessed at 100%.

4. The Minister for Social Security is proposing these changes to extend eligibility to other people with care needs on par with or higher than the level 3 personal care element of the impairment component. This includes those:

1. entitled to the flexible personal care element of the impairment component; or
2. in receipt of Long-Term Care benefit.

5. The change will ensure the Regulations are aligned with current and ongoing administration of Income Support claims.
6. There will be no negative impact on the amount of Income Support payable to Income Support households. Some households will be better off.
7. The law drafter has taken the opportunity to redraft all of Regulation 2, bringing it in line with modern law drafting standards.

Financial and staffing implications

8. The change is estimated to make approximately 105 additional households eligible at an increased cost of up to £21k.
9. The cost will have no material impact on the Income Support budget.
10. No additional staffing resources required to implement this change.

Children’s Rights Impact Assessment

11. A Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) has been prepared in relation to this proposition and is available to read on the States Assembly website.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations, if made, will amend the Income Support (Special Payments) (Cold Weather Payments) (Jersey) Regulations 2008 (the “2008 Regulations”) to extend the eligibility criteria for the cold weather bonus.

In particular, the Regulations will amend Regulation 2 of the 2008 Regulations so that a cold weather bonus payment may be made to a household if a member of the household –

• is an adult with permanent care needs entitled to the personal care element under Schedule 1, paragraph 6(1)(d) of the Income Support (Jersey) Regulations 2007;

• is an adult or child who is entitled to the personal care element under Schedule 1, paragraph 6(1)(e) of the Income Support (Jersey) Regulations 2007 because they are not expected to live more than 12 months; or

• is in receipt of benefit under the Long-Term Care (Jersey) Law 2012 and does not live in an approved care home.

Regulation 2 of the 2008 Regulations is also amended to follow modern drafting standards. These Regulations come into force on the day after they are made.

DRAFT INCOME SUPPORT (SPECIAL PAYMENTS) (COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS) (JERSEY)
AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 202-

Contents

Regulation
 

1.	Income Support (Special Payments) (Cold Weather Payments) (Jersey) Regulations 2008 amended
2.	Regulation 2 (special payments to meet heating costs) substituted
3.	Title
4.	Commencement

DRAFT INCOME SUPPORT (SPECIAL PAYMENTS) (COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS) (JERSEY)
AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 202-

Made  [date to be inserted] Coming into force  [date to be inserted]

THE STATES make these Regulations under Articles 8 and 18 of the Income Support (Jersey) Law 2007 –

1  Income Support (Special Payments) (Cold Weather Payments) (Jersey)

Regulations 2008 amended

These  Regulations  amend  the  Income  Support  (Special  Payments)  (Cold  Weather Payments) (Jersey) Regulations 2008.

2  Regulation 2 (special payments to meet heating costs) substituted

For Regulation 2 there is substituted –

2  Special payment for cold weather month

1. The Minister may make a special payment to a household for a cold weather month if, in every day of that month –

1. the household was in receipt of income support;
2. in respect of that income support, the household was entitled to a special component  under  Article 5(3)(a)  of the  Law  or  lived  in the  same dwelling as another household that was entitled to a special component under Article 5(3)(a) of the Law;
3. the household lived in a dwelling other than a hostel or lodgings; and
4. a member of the household –

1. was under the age of 3 years;
2. was over the age of 65 years;
3. was entitled to the personal care element of the impairment component under Schedule 1, paragraph 6(1)(c), (d) or (e) of the Income Support (Jersey) Regulations 2007;

Amendment Regulations 202-  Regulation 2

4. was a child to whom Regulation 3(a) of the Income Support (Special  Payments)  (Child  Personal  Care)  (Jersey) Regulations 2014 applied;
5. was in receipt of long term incapacity allowance assessed at a degree of 100%; or
6. was in receipt of benefit under the Long-Term Care (Jersey) Law 2012 and was not a resident of an approved care home (defined in Article 6 of that Law).

2. The amount of a special payment under this Regulation is calculated by the formula –

T - 90

C x

450

where –

C is calculated under paragraph (3); and

T is calculated under paragraph (4).

3. C is –

1. for payments made in relation to October 2026 to April 2027 inclusive, £245.80;
2. for payments made in relation to months after April 2027, the amount produced by increasing or decreasing the value of C in the  April preceding  the  cold  weather  month  by  the  percentage  increase  or decrease in the fuel and light group of the Jersey Retail Price s Index published for the 12 months ending in the June preceding the cold weather month.

4. T is the lower of 540 and the number calculated as follows –

1. in each of the calendar months of October to April inclusive, the average temperature for each day in degrees Celsius is deducted from 15.5;
2. if the difference is a positive number, the difference is noted;
3. the differences noted under sub-paragraph (b) are added together.

5. If an amount calculated under paragraph (2) or (3) is not a whole number of pence, the amount is rounded up to the next whole penny.
6. If a dwelling is occupied by 2 or more households entitled to a special payment under this Regulation –

1. only 1 special payment is payable in respect of the dwelling; and
2. the special payment is divided equally between all the households entitled to it.

7. In this Regulation –

“cold weather month” means a month between October and April inclusive in which the total calculated in paragraph (4)(c) exceeds 90;

“Jersey Retail Price s Index” means the report of that name published by the Office of the Chief Statistician constituted under Article 5(1) of the Statistics and Census (Jersey) Law 2018.

Amendment Regulations 202-  Regulation 3

3  Title

These Regulations are the Income Support (Special Payments) (Cold Weather Payments) (Jersey) Amendment Regulations 202-.

4  Commencement

These Regulations come into force on the day after they are made.