The Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit(General) Amendment Regulations 1999

Amendment of regulation 21A of the Housing Benefit Regulations and 13A of the Council Tax Benefit Regulations

4.—(1) Regulations 21A of the Housing Benefit Regulations and 13A of the Council Tax Benefit Regulations (treatment of child care charges) respectively shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation.

(2) For paragraph (2)(1) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—

“(2) Relevant child care charges are those charges for care to which paragraphs (2ZA) and (2ZB) apply, and shall be calculated on a weekly basis in accordance with paragraph (3).

(2ZA) The charges are paid by the claimant for care which is provided—

(a)in the case of any child of the claimant’s family who is not disabled, in respect of the period beginning on that child’s date of birth and ending on the day preceding the first Monday in September following that child’s fifteenth birthday; or

(b)in the case of any child of the claimant’s family who is disabled, in respect of the period beginning on that person’s date of birth and ending on the day preceding the first Monday in September following that person’s sixteenth birthday.

(2ZB) The charges are paid for care which is provided by one or more of the care providers listed in paragraph (2ZC) and are not paid—

(a)in respect of the child’s compulsory education; or

(b)by a claimant to a partner or by a partner to a claimant in respect of any child for whom either or any of them is responsible in accordance with regulation 14 (circumstances in which a person is treated as responsible or not responsible for another).

(2ZC) The care to which paragraph (2ZB) refers may be provided—

(a)by persons registered under section 71 of the Children Act 1989(2) (registration of child minders and persons providing day care for young children);

(b)out of school hours, by a school on school premises or by a local authority—

(i)for children who are not disabled in respect of the period beginning on their eighth birthday and ending on the day preceding the first Monday in September following their fifteenth birthday, or

(ii)for children who are disabled in respect of the period beginning on their eighth birthday and ending on the day preceding the first Monday in September following their sixteenth birthday;

(c)by a child care scheme operating on Crown property where registration under section 71 of the Children Act 1989 is not required; or

(d)in schools or establishments which are exempt from registration under section 71 of the Children Act 1989 by virtue of section 71(16) of, and paragraph 3 or 4 of Schedule 9 to, that Act.”.

(3) After paragraph (5) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“(6) For the purposes of paragraph (2), a person is disabled if he is a person—

(a)in respect of whom disability living allowance is payable, or has ceased to be payable solely because he is a patient;

(b)who is registered as blind in a register compiled under section 29 of the National Assistance Act 1948(3) (welfare services) or, in Scotland, has been certified as blind and in consequence he is registered as blind in a register maintained by or on behalf of a regional or islands council; or

(c)who ceased to be registered as blind in such a register within the 28 weeks immediately preceding the date of claim.”.