Children's Handbook Scotland 2020/21Chapter 7: Children living with kinship carers3. Benefits and tax credits if a child is not looked after Means-tested benefits
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Means-tested benefits
Universal credit
If you are getting universal credit (UC), a child element should be included in your UC award for a non-looked-after child you care for, as long as you are treated as being responsible for the child. You are responsible for the child if s/he normally lives with you.1Reg 4(2) UC Regs You do not have to be getting child benefit for the child.
A ‘two-child limit’ was introduced on 6 April 2017 (see here). Non-looked-after children in kinship care are exempt from the two-child limit if:2Sch 12 para 4 UC Regs
    •you have a kinship care order under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995; or
    •you are appointed as guardian under section 7 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995; or
    •you are entitled to guardian’s allowance in respect of the child/children; or
    •one of the above bullet points applied prior to the child’s 16th birthday and you have continued to be responsible for the child; or
    •you have undertaken care of the child/children where it is likely that otherwise s/he would have been looked after by the local authority.
This means that even if you already have two or more dependent children and you start caring for a child on or after 6 April 2017 in one of these circumstances, you can get the child element in your UC for the child who has come to live with you, providing you satisfy the normal conditions of entitlement. If you give birth to a child after taking on the care of a child or children in one of these circumstances, a child in kinship care is ‘disregarded’ when applying the two-child limit.3Reg 24A(1)(za) UC Regs
Example
Sally and Bob have one child already when they take on the care of their niece and nephew for whom they have kinship care orders. They can get UC for all three children. Two years later, they have another baby and they are able to get UC for the baby as well because the two ‘kinship’ children are disregarded for the purposes of the ‘two-child limit.’ If they later have another baby, this child will be subject to the two-child limit.
The amount of the housing costs element for rent you get in your UC reflects the number of bedrooms you need, including for any ‘kinship’ child. Your work allowance should reflect the fact you have a dependent child (see here). If you are working, you may be entitled to help with childcare costs (see here). If you become a ‘friend or family carer’ (see below) of a child under 16 and you are the ‘responsible carer’ (see below), you are subject to the ‘work-focused interview requirement’ (see here) only for the first 12 months (unless the child is aged under one, in which case the responsible carer has no work-related requirements).4Reg 91(2)(e) UC Regs
‘Friend or family carer’ means you are responsible for a child under 16 but are not her/his parent or step-parent. You must be taking care of the child because:5Reg 91(3) UC Regs
    •s/he has no parent, or has parents who are unable to care for her/him; or
    •it is likely that s/he would otherwise be looked after by the local authority.
‘Responsible carer’ means you are a lone parent or, if you are in a couple, you and your partner have nominated you as responsible for the child. Only one of you can be nominated and the nomination applies to all your children.6s19(6) WRA 2012; reg 86 UC Regs
Local authority payments are disregarded as income for UC.7Reg 66 UC Regs
 
1     Reg 4(2) UC Regs »
2     Sch 12 para 4 UC Regs »
3     Reg 24A(1)(za) UC Regs »
4     Reg 91(2)(e) UC Regs »
5     Reg 91(3) UC Regs »
6     s19(6) WRA 2012; reg 86 UC Regs »
7     Reg 66 UC Regs »
Income support
Note: if you are not already getting income support (IS), you are very likely to have to claim UC instead.
 
Claiming income support as a lone parent
If you are a lone parent with at least one child aged under five you can get IS, provided you satisfy the other rules (see here). The child must be a member of your household, meaning that you are ‘responsible for the child’.1Reg 16 and Sch 1B para 1 IS Regs You are treated as responsible for a child if:2Reg 15 IS Regs
    •you get child benefit for her/him; or
    •no one gets child benefit for her/him and s/he usually lives with you, or you are the only person who has claimed child benefit for her/him.
Note: you do not have to be the child’s parent to count as a lone parent for IS.
If there is a delay in transferring child benefit to you so that you cannot count as a lone parent, you may still be eligible for IS in the meantime if the reason you are caring for the child is because her/his parent is temporarily ill or away from home.3Sch 1B para 3 IS Regs; R(IS) 11/08
 
Claiming income support as a carer
If you care for a disabled person, you may be able to get IS, provided you satisfy the other rules (see Chapter 1). This applies if the child (or other person for whom you care) is getting disability living allowance (DLA) care component at the middle or highest rate or personal independence payment (PIP) daily living component (if s/he is aged 16 or over) and you are getting carer’s allowance (CA), or you are ‘regularly and substantially’ engaged in caring for her/him. It can also apply after a claim for DLA/PIP has been made for a period of up to 26 weeks or until the decision is made, whichever is the earlier date. See here for how this rule works.
 
Claiming income support on other grounds
There are other groups who can get IS (see here).
 
The effect of local authority payments
If you are not receiving amounts in your IS for a child, Section 50 payments are disregarded as income for IS.4Sch 9 para 25(1)(ba) IS Regs If you are still receiving amounts in your IS for a child and you are not receiving child tax credit (CTC), Section 50 payments count as income up to the amount equal to the child’s personal allowance and any disabled child premium for the child concerned. The amount of any payment above this level is ignored.5Sch 9 para 25 IS Regs, unamended by SS(WTCCTC)(CA) Regs for claimants still receiving amounts for children in IS If you are in this situation, you may be better off claiming UC. Seek advice about this as soon as possible.
Section 22 payments are disregarded as income for IS.6Sch 9 para 28(1)(c) IS Regs
 
1     Reg 16 and Sch 1B para 1 IS Regs »
2     Reg 15 IS Regs »
3     Sch 1B para 3 IS Regs; R(IS) 11/08 »
4     Sch 9 para 25(1)(ba) IS Regs »
5     Sch 9 para 25 IS Regs, unamended by SS(WTCCTC)(CA) Regs for claimants still receiving amounts for children in IS »
6     Sch 9 para 28(1)(c) IS Regs »
Income-related employment and support allowance
If you are already getting income-related employment and support allowance (ESA), it is not normally affected when you become a kinship carer. However, if you claim UC in order to get support for the child, your income-related ESA will stop.
 
The effect of local authority payments
Local authority payments are disregarded as income for income-related ESA.1s50 Sch 8 para 26(1)(b) ESA Regs
s22 Sch 8 para 30(1)(c) ESA Regs
Contributory ESA is not affected by local authority payments as it is not a means-tested benefit.
 
1     s50 Sch 8 para 26(1)(b) ESA Regs
s22 Sch 8 para 30(1)(c) ESA Regs »
Jobseeker’s allowance
Note: if you are not already getting income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), you are very likely to have to claim UC instead.
When a child joins your household, your JSA is not normally affected. However, if you claim UC in order to get support for the child, your income-based JSA will stop.
 
The effect of local authority payments
If you are not receiving amounts in your income-based JSA for a child, Section 50 payments are disregarded as income.1Sch 7 para 26(1)(ba) JSA Regs If you are still receiving amounts in your income-based JSA for a child and you are not receiving CTC, Section 50 payments count as income up to the amount equal to the personal allowance and any disabled child premium for the child concerned. The amount of any payment above this level is ignored.2Sch 7 para 26 JSA Regs, unamended by SS(WTCCTC)(CA) Regs for claimants still receiving amounts for children in JSA If you are in this situation, you are probably better off claiming UC instead. Seek advice as soon as possible.
Section 22 payments are disregarded as income.3Sch 7 para 29(1)(c) JSA Regs
Contribution-based JSA is not means tested and is not affected by any payments you get from the local authority.
 
1     Sch 7 para 26(1)(ba) JSA Regs »
2     Sch 7 para 26 JSA Regs, unamended by SS(WTCCTC)(CA) Regs for claimants still receiving amounts for children in JSA »
3     Sch 7 para 29(1)(c) JSA Regs »
Pension credit
Some pension credit (PC) claimants who are responsible for a non-looked-after child or qualifying young person get an additional amount for the child(ren) in their PC (instead of CTC).1Sch 2A para 3 SPC Regs You are responsible for the child if s/he normally lives with you. You do not have to be getting child benefit for the child. If you are getting child benefit for the child, it is not taken into account as income for PC.2s15 SPCA 2002; reg 15(1)(j) SPC Regs If a child comes to lives you, the increase in your PC applicable amount can sometimes mean that you become entitled to PC when you were not previously entitled.
 
The effect of local authority payments
Local authority payments are disregarded as income for PC.3s15 SPCA 2002; reg 15 SPC Regs
 
1     Sch 2A para 3 SPC Regs »
2     s15 SPCA 2002; reg 15(1)(j) SPC Regs »
3     s15 SPCA 2002; reg 15 SPC Regs »
Housing benefit and council tax reduction
Being a kinship carer can change the amount of housing benefit (HB) and council tax reduction (CTR) you get, or can mean you become entitled to HB/CTR, although you are very likely to have to claim UC instead of HB if you are under pension age and are not already getting HB. Your entitlement to HB/CTR might change for the following reasons.
    •Being responsible for a non-looked-after child increases your applicable amount (see here). This is the figure used to calculate how much HB/CTR you get. For a child to count as your dependant, s/he must be ‘normally living’ with you.1HB Reg 20(1) HB Regs; reg 20(1) HB(SPC) Regs
    CTR Reg 10(1) CTR(S) Regs; reg 10(1) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs     This means s/he spends more time with you than with anyone else.2CFC/1537/1995 If it is unclear in whose household the child normally lives, or if s/he spends equal time in more than one household, you are treated as having responsibility if:3HB Reg 20(2) HB Regs; reg 20(2) HB(SPC) Regs
    CTR Reg 10(2) CTR(S) Regs; reg 10(2) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs
      ◦you get child benefit for the child; or
      ◦no one gets child benefit but you have claimed it; or
      ◦no one has claimed child benefit, or more than one person has claimed it but you appear to have most responsibility.
    •If your HB is calculated on the basis of a ‘local housing allowance’ (this only affects tenants in the private rented sector – see here), the local housing allowance that applies to you may change because you require more rooms. Your HB entitlement may increase as a result.
    •If you are under pension age and living in the social rented sector, any deduction you have to your HB because you are considered to be under-occupying your accommodation might be affected by a non-looked-after child joining your household. If you have had an under-occupation deduction applied to your HB but you are no longer treated as under-occupying, this deduction should stop. See here for more details.
 
The effect of local authority payments
Section 22 payments and Section 50 payments are disregarded in full.4HB Sch 5 paras 25(1)(ba) and 28 HB Regs; reg 29(1) HB(SPC) Regs
CTR Sch 4 paras 29(1)(b) and 32 CTR(S) Regs; reg 27(1) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs
 
1     HB Reg 20(1) HB Regs; reg 20(1) HB(SPC) Regs
CTR Reg 10(1) CTR(S) Regs; reg 10(1) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs »
2     CFC/1537/1995 »
3     HB Reg 20(2) HB Regs; reg 20(2) HB(SPC) Regs
CTR Reg 10(2) CTR(S) Regs; reg 10(2) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs »
4     HB Sch 5 paras 25(1)(ba) and 28 HB Regs; reg 29(1) HB(SPC) Regs
CTR Sch 4 paras 29(1)(b) and 32 CTR(S) Regs; reg 27(1) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs »
Scottish child payment
You can get Scottish child payment for a non-looked after child if you satisfy the normal conditions of entitlement, including being responsible for the child (see here).