Children's Handbook Scotland | 2021/22Chapter 6: Children who are 'looked after and accommodated' 2. When your child comes home
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2. When your child comes home
If your child comes back to live with you full time, you can claim benefits and tax credits for her/him if you satisfy the normal rules (see Chapter 1).
If tax credits or a means-tested benefit like income support (IS) has stopped, you will usually have to claim universal credit (UC) instead (see here).
This section provides information about what happens when a child is staying with you some of the time – eg, if s/he is starting to come home for a couple of days a week on a trial basis.
Child benefit
If your child is looked after and accommodated, you can get child benefit for any week s/he comes home:1Reg 16(1)(b) CB Regs
    •for seven nights in a row; or
    •for any extra nights that follow immediately after the first seven; or
    •on a regular basis for at least two consecutive nights every week.
Example
Owen has been looked after and accommodated for the past six months. He comes home on Thursday 16 September 2021 and stays with his mother until the following Thursday. His mother is entitled to child benefit for the week beginning Monday 13 September 2021. If he stays at least one extra night, following straight after this first period, his mother is also entitled to child benefit for the week beginning Monday 20 September 2021.
You have to make a new claim for child benefit for any periods your child spends at home. It is worth claiming not just for the income you get but also for the national insurance credits it gives you. This helps protect your state retirement pension by helping you satisfy the contribution conditions.
If, when your child comes back to live with you, you expect it to be on a permanent basis, child benefit should start being paid as normal again (provided you make a claim). If your child is then looked after and accommodated again, you should get child benefit paid for a further eight weeks (see here).
 
1     Reg 16(1)(b) CB Regs »
Means-tested benefits
Universal credit
When your child comes home, your UC should be adjusted to include the child element. This should happen even if the child is still ‘looked after’ by the local authority.1Regs 4 and 4A UC Regs However, if s/he is only coming home for short periods, your UC may not increase because of the way UC ‘assessment periods’ work – eg, if s/he both comes home and goes back to foster carers or residential accommodation within the same assessment period.
 
1     Regs 4 and 4A UC Regs »
Income support and jobseeker’s allowance
If you were getting IS or income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) which included amounts (personal allowance and premiums) for your child before s/he was looked after and accommodated, you do not get these amounts again when your child comes back to live with you, unless you have continued to get amounts for another child in your IS/income-based JSA.
If you have continued to get a personal allowance for another child in the family while a child has been looked after and accommodated, your IS/income-based JSA can be increased when your child comes back to live with you. If s/he comes to stay part of the time, you can get the increase for the days s/he stays with you.1IS Reg 16(6) IS Regs; Sch 3A para 3(b) SS&CS(DA) Regs
JSA Reg 78(7) JSA Regs; Sch 3A para 8(b) SS&CS(DA) Regs
 If this applies, make sure you tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about any days your child spends at home and check that your IS/income-based JSA is adjusted correctly.
If you were not getting amounts for your child in your IS/income-based JSA before s/he became looked after and accommodated, your IS/income-based JSA is unlikely to be affected until your child comes home on a full-time basis, although you will then usually have to claim UC instead (see here).
 
1     IS Reg 16(6) IS Regs; Sch 3A para 3(b) SS&CS(DA) Regs
JSA Reg 78(7) JSA Regs; Sch 3A para 8(b) SS&CS(DA) Regs
 »
Pension credit
If you are entitled to a pension credit (PC) additional amount for your child, your PC should be adjusted to include this again when your child comes home, even if your child is still ‘looked after’ by the local authority, provided you have parental responsibility for the child.1Sch 2A para 4(1) and (3)(b) SPC Regs
 
1     Sch 2A para 4(1) and (3)(b) SPC Regs »
Housing benefit and council tax reduction
When your child comes home, your housing benefit (HB) and council tax reduction (CTR) should be adjusted to include her/his personal allowance and any premiums. If you have not been getting maximum HB/CTR, this may mean you are entitled to more benefit. If your child comes home for part of a week, the local authority can calculate your benefit as if s/he is at home for the whole week if it considers it is reasonable to do so, taking into account the nature and frequency of the child’s visits.1HB Reg 21(5) HB Regs; reg 21(5) HB(SPC) Regs
CTR Reg 11(4) CTR(S) Regs; reg 11(4) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs
 The child should also be included in the ‘size criteria’. Also tell the local authority if your income changes.
If your HB has stopped and you need to make a new claim, you will probably need to claim UC instead (see here).
 
1     HB Reg 21(5) HB Regs; reg 21(5) HB(SPC) Regs
CTR Reg 11(4) CTR(S) Regs; reg 11(4) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs
 »
Non-means-tested benefits
Disability living allowance, child disability payment and personal independence payment
If the payment of disability living allowance (DLA) or child disability payment (CDP) care component or personal independence payment (PIP) daily living component has stopped because your child is in residential accommodation (not foster care), it can be paid for days your child spends at home with you. The day s/he comes home and the day s/he goes back into local authority accommodation count as days at home.1Reg 9(7) SS(DLA) Regs; reg 19 DACYP(S) Regs; reg 32(2) SS(PIP) Regs For example, if your child comes home on Friday evening and returns to local authority accommodation on Sunday evening, this counts as three days at home. The DLA or CDP care component/PIP daily living component is payable for these three days.
Tell the Disability Benefit Centre (or Social Security Scotland (SSS) for CDP) about any days your child spends at home.
If someone else has been made appointee for your child’s DLA or CDP, payments are not made to you. If your child starts to spend more time at home with you, it may be appropriate for you to become the appointee for DLA again or start receiving the CDP again. Apply by contacting the Disability Benefit Centre (or SSS for CDP) (see Appendix 1).
 
1     Reg 9(7) SS(DLA) Regs; reg 19 DACYP(S) Regs; reg 32(2) SS(PIP) Regs  »
Carer’s allowance
You receive carer’s allowance (CA) if you are caring for a disabled person for at least 35 hours a week. The disabled person must be in receipt of DLA or CDP care component at the middle or highest rate or PIP daily living component (or attendance allowance). If your child is disabled and is entitled to the DLA (or CDP) care component at the middle or highest rate or PIP daily living component, you may be able to get CA if your child starts coming home for short spells (and DLA or CDP care component/PIP daily living component is payable). Provided your child gets the appropriate disability benefit and you can show that you are caring for your child at least 35 hours a week (Sunday to Saturday) while s/he is at home, you should be able to get CA. The time does not have to be spread across the whole week. Time spent preparing for her/his visit and clearing up afterwards can count towards the 35 hours.1CG/006/1990 Even if someone else is currently the appointee for the child’s DLA or CDP, you can still claim CA, provided you satisfy the rules.
Example
Ibrahim is aged seven and has been looked after and accommodated in a residential unit for the past nine months. He has a disability and is entitled to the DLA care component at the highest rate. He has recently started going home to his parents’ house every weekend. He goes on Friday at 6pm and leaves on Monday at 8.30am. DLA care component is payable for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. His mother spends almost all of the time he is at home caring for him. She also spends at least two hours before he arrives preparing, and another three hours clearing up once he has left on Monday. Ibrahim’s mother claims CA. She must show that in the course of a week (Sunday to Saturday), she spends at least 35 hours caring for Ibrahim. She should be entitled to CA.
If you become entitled to CA, any means-tested benefits (IS, income-based JSA, income-related ESA, PC, HB and CTR) you receive should include the carer premium or carer addition. If you get UC, it should include the carer element once you have ‘regular and substantial’ caring responsibilties for your child again (see here).2Regs 29 and 30 UC Regs If you have lost entitlement to a means-tested benefit such as IS, income-based JSA, income-related ESA or HB because of losing the carer premium, it is likely that you will have to claim UC instead.
 
If someone else is claiming carer’s allowance
Only one person can get CA in respect of a particular disabled person.3s70(7) SSCBA 1992 If there is more than one person who could be entitled (eg, you and your child’s foster carer), you can agree who will claim. If agreement is not possible, the DWP decides.4s70(7) SSCBA 1992; reg 7 SS(ICA) Regs There is no right of appeal against this decision.
 
1     CG/006/1990 »
2     Regs 29 and 30 UC Regs »
3     s70(7) SSCBA 1992 »
4     s70(7) SSCBA 1992; reg 7 SS(ICA) Regs »
Tax credits
There is no provision in the tax credit rules to allow tax credits to be paid for days a child spends at home with you while s/he is still being looked after and accommodated. You can only get child tax credit (CTC) for a child when s/he is no longer looked after and accommodated and s/he is normally living with you. If you have not continued getting CTC for another child, or working tax credit, you will not be able to reclaim tax credits and will probably have to claim UC instead.