Transfer of Income Support/Jobseeker claimants to Child Tax Credit

enable javascript

Since 6 April 2004 Child Tax Credit (CTC) has replaced the parts of Income Support (IS) or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) that are for children for anyone making a new claim. This means that these lone parents receive a personal allowance and any premiums they are entitled to for themself, but not allowances and premiums for their children.

The remainder of IS and JSA claimants who have not yet claimed CTC (900,000 families, according to the latest estimate from the Department for Work and Pensions) will start to be transferred over to CTC at some point after April 2005.

When will this affect clients?

It is hard to tell when exactly this may affect clients as the Paymaster General has only said this process will start ‘in the course of next year’ that is, after April 2005. It will be done in stages but not in alphabetical order or by geographical area– it will depend where in the Jobcentre Plus computer system particular cases are stored.

Will clients be worse off?

In response to a Parliamentary Question on 18 November 2004, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Work at the Department for Work and Pensions, Chris Pond, said their latest estimate was that fewer than 200 families could be worse off. These cases are likely to be where the claimant receives an amount of IS or JSA for their mortgage interest and has other income that is higher than the amount of IS or JSA they are entitled to after receiving CTC. For some families, the reduction in their Council Tax Benefit will be greater than the increase in their income, and therefore they would be worse off overall.

The only solution that has been suggested so far is for clients to apply for Discretionary Housing Payments towards their Council Tax from the benefits section at the local council. The DWP do not have any plans to make transitional payments to people who may become worse off.

...Back to previous page


	Account
	Log In Register (new user)





Lone parents caring for a child with a disability or long- term health problem

	Resources
	Print Page E-mail Page Advanced Search Shopping Cart Links WWW Parentline Plus One Parent Families Scotland Links this site One Parent Families Manchester Links WWW Back to Signposter Office Contact One Parent Families\| Gingerbread 255 Kentish Town Road London NW5 2LX Helpline: 0800 018 5026 Tel: 020 7428 5400 Fax: 020 7482 4851 Click to email us Note: we cannot answer emails seeking personal advice. Please refer to the Helpline. Helpline Number - 0800 018 5026 Calls are FREE from landlines. Mobile rates vary. Get Adobe Reader

The National Council for One Parent Families is a registered charity no: 230750

and a company limited by guarantee and registered in London no: 402748.

VAT number 587315610. View our privacy policy and our disclaimer.

If you have any comments on this web site please send them to

our web site manager web@oneparentfamilies.org.uk.

Design & development by Engino 2003 - 2008