Children's Handbook Scotland | 2022/23Chapter 6: Children who are 'looked after and accommodated' 1. Benefits and tax credits for children who are 'looked after and accommodated'
Back to previous
Newer version available

There is a newer version of this publication available:
Children's Handbook Scotland | 2023/24

Chapter illustrations (0)
Loading image navigation...
No image index could be found for this publication.
Close this Panel
    1. Benefits and tax credits for children who are ‘looked after and accommodated’
    Child benefit
    Your entitlement to child benefit stops if your child has been looked after and accommodated for at least one day a week for eight consecutive weeks.1s147(2) and Sch 9 para 1 SSCBA 1992; regs 16(1)(a) and 18 CB Regs A ‘day’ for this purpose means midnight to midnight2R(F) 3/85 and a ‘week’ means a period of seven days starting on a Monday.3s147(1) SSCBA 1992
    You have a duty to notify the Child Benefit Office of any changes in your circumstances, including if your child has been looked after and accommodated for eight weeks. Contact the Child Benefit Office (see Appendix 1) as soon as you know your child is likely to be looked after and accommodated for eight weeks or more. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) provides a form (CH193) for local authorities to use to notify the Child Benefit Office if a child has started to be looked after by them. This can be completed online at gov.uk/government/publications/child-benefit-local-authority-or-care-trust-notification-ch193. You should not rely on the local authority advising the Child Benefit Office and, to avoid overpayment, make sure you also tell the Child Benefit Office about any change.
    Do not assume that by telling one section of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or HMRC that all the other sections will get the same information. You need to tell the Child Benefit Office even if you have already told the Tax Credit Office, DWP, Social Security Scotland (SSS) or local authority.
    Means-tested benefits
    Universal credit
    If your child is looked after and accommodated, s/he is no longer included in your universal credit (UC) claim, unless it is a ‘planned short break’ (respite).1Reg 4 and 4A UC Regs This means that any child element, including any disabled child element, you receive stops.2Reg 24 UC Regs If you are in rented accommodation, the housing costs element is calculated as if the child is still living with you for the first six months of absence from home.3Sch 4 para 11(2)(a) UC Regs. The rules say that the absence must be temporary, but it is unclear whether the DWP would question whether the child is temporarily or permanently absent. If your child is looked after and accommodated, s/he does not count as a dependent child for the purpose of calculating your work allowance (see here). If you have been getting help with childcare costs for the child, this stops. The changes to your UC take effect from the start of the assessment period in which they happen. The ‘assessment period’ is a period of one month.
    Example
    Faye claimed UC on 15 May 2022. Her first assessment period for UC is 15 May 2022 to 14 June 2022 and every assessment period after that follows the same dates (15th of the month to 14th of the following month). Her child becomes looked after and accommodated on 30 September 2022. All the changes that happen as a result of that take effect from the start of the assessment period in which that date falls – ie, 15 September 2022 to 14 October 2022. For example, the child element stops being included in her UC from 15 September 2022.
    Your ‘claimant commitment’ (see here), which sets out what you have to do to keep receiving your full UC, might change.
    Note: if the only reason you are exempt from the benefit cap (see here) is because a child for whom you are responsible is entitled to disability living allowance (DLA), child disability payment (CDP), personal independence payment (PIP) or adult disability payment (ADP), this exemption ends if the child no longer counts as part of your household.4Regs 79 and 83 UC Regs
    Income support and jobseeker’s allowance
    If you do not get amounts for your child
    If your income support (IS) or income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) does not include amounts for your child, the amount of these benefits is not normally affected when your child becomes looked after and accommodated (but see below for other implications).
    If, as a result of your child being looked after and accommodated, you are no longer caring for a child aged under five, you are not able to claim IS as a lone parent. This is because the child no longer counts as a member of your household.1Reg 16(5)(c) and Sch 1B para 1 IS Regs This takes effect as soon as your child is looked after and accommodated.
    If you are getting carer’s allowance (CA) for your disabled child and the child is looked after and accommodated, any carer premium in your IS/income-based JSA may be affected or the basis for your IS claim may be affected (see here).
    Tell the DWP immediately if your child is looked after and accommodated.
    If you still get amounts for your child
    Your IS or income-based JSA may still include amounts for your child (personal allowances and premiums). This is now extremely unusual and will only be the case if you have been getting IS/income-based JSA including amounts for a child since before 6 April 2004 and have not claimed child tax credit (CTC). Your entitlement to the personal allowance for that child and any disability or enhanced disability premium relating to that child stops as soon as your child is looked after and accommodated.2IS Reg 16(5)(c) IS Regs
    JSA Reg 78(5)(f) JSA Regs     If you then have no children included in your IS/income-based JSA claim, the family premium also stops. The child benefit for that child, which you continue to get for eight weeks, does not count as income during that period.3IS Sch 9 para 5B(2) IS Regs; reg 7(4) and (5)(c) SS(WTCCTC)(CA) Regs
    JSA Sch 7 para 6B(2) JSA Regs; regs 8(3) and 4(c) SS(WTCCTC)(CA) Regs
    If you are getting CA for your disabled child and the child is looked after and accommodated, any carer premium in your IS/income-based JSA may be affected (see here).
    Tell the DWP immediately if your child is looked after and accommodated.
    Income-related employment and support allowance
    Income-related employment and support allowance (ESA) does not include any amounts for children and is not normally affected when your child is looked after and accommodated. If, however, you are getting CA for a disabled child and the child is looked after and accommodated, any carer premium in your income-related ESA may be affected (see here).
    Pension credit
    If you are entitled to CA and this stops, the carer addition (part of pension credit (PC)) may be affected (see here). Some PC claimants who are responsible for a child/qualifying young person get an additional amount for her/him in their PC (instead of CTC). If you get a PC additional amount for a child and s/he becomes looked after and accommodated, you will no longer get the PC additional amount unless it is a ‘planned short break’ (respite).1Sch 2A para 4 SPC Regs
    Housing benefit and council tax reduction
    If your child becomes looked after and accommodated, your applicable amount (the figure used to calculate how much housing benefit (HB)/council tax reduction (CTR) you get) no longer includes amounts (personal allowance and premiums) for the child.1HB Reg 21(4)(a) HB Regs; reg 21(4)(a) HB(SPC) Regs
    CTR Reg 7(8) CTR(S) Regs; reg 11(3)(a) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs     See Chapter 1 for more about how HB/CTR is calculated. Your entitlement to the allowance and premiums stops as soon as your child is looked after and accommodated.
    If you are on IS, income-based JSA, income-related ESA or the guarantee credit of PC, you are ‘passported’ to maximum HB/CTR. However, your HB may still be reduced because of the number of bedrooms you are deemed to require (the ‘size criteria’). This means that if your HB is calculated using the local housing allowance rules (see here), it may be affected if the child no longer counts as occupying the home and as a result you need fewer bedrooms.2Reg 13D HB Regs; reg 13D HB(SPC) Regs If you are under pension age and living in the social rented sector and your child no longer counts as occupying the home, you may be deemed to need fewer bedrooms and be subject to the ‘under-occupation penalty’ (bedroom tax).3Reg B13 HB Regs It may be possible to argue that, even though the child is not part of your ‘household’ for HB, s/he should still count as an ‘occupier’ and still be included in the size criteria – eg, if s/he is not likely to be away indefinitely.4Regs B13(5) and 13D(12) HB Regs define ‘occupier’ as a person whom the relevant authority is satisfied occupies the claimant’s dwelling as her/his home Seek further advice if you are in this situation.
    Your income may reduce (eg, because CTC has stopped) and this also affects the amount of HB/CTR to which you are entitled, unless you are already getting the maximum amount of HB/CTR.
    If you are struggling to pay your rent because of changes to your HB entitlement, apply for a discretionary housing payment (see here).
    Tell the HB/CTR office immediately if your child is looked after and accommodated. Also inform the local authority when your CTC stops. This is because CTC counts as income for HB/CTR, so if you are no longer getting it, you may be entitled to more HB/CTR.
    Note: if the only reason you are exempt from the benefit cap (see here) is because a child for whom you are responsible is entitled to DLA, CDP, PIP or ADP, this exemption ends if the child no longer counts as part of your household.5Regs 75A and 75F HB Regs
    Scottish child payment
    If your child becomes looked after and accommodated, Scottish child payment stops if you no longer count as responsible for the child (see here).This usually happens when child benefit stops being paid (see here).
    Non-means-tested benefits
    Disability living allowance, child disability payment, personal independence payment and adult disability payment
    If your child is entitled to DLA, CDP, PIP or ADP, it may be affected if s/he is looked after and accommodated. The rules are different depending on whether s/he is staying with foster carers or in residential accommodation – eg, a residential unit. If your child’s DLA or CDP care component/PIP or ADP daily living component stops, and/or you are no longer caring for your child, any CA you get may be affected (see here).
     
    Foster care
    DLA and CDP (both care and mobility components)/PIP and ADP (both daily living and mobility components) can continue to be paid while your child is living with foster carers. However, the person to whom the benefit is paid may change. It is likely that you (or your partner) are the ‘appointee’ for your child’s DLA. This means that you are the person who receives payment. If your child is no longer living with you, this will probably change. Your child’s foster carer or the local authority may become the appointee.1Reg 43 SS(C&P) Regs
    Appointeeship for DLA should stop if your child is looked after and accommodated, unless the arrangement is expected to last for less than 12 weeks.2Reg 43(4) SS(C&P) Regs Tell the Disability Benefit Centre (see Appendix 1) immediately if your child goes to live with foster carers unless the arrangement is unlikely to last for more than 12 weeks. If there is disagreement about who should be a child’s appointee, the DWP decides. There is no right of appeal against this decision.3Sch 2 para 5(y) SS&CS(DA) Regs; Sch 3 para 1(m) and (n) UC,PIP,JSA&ESA(DA) Regs
    A foster carer may be appointed by SSS to deal with your child’s CDP.4s85A SS(S) Act 2018
     
    Residential accommodation
    After 28 days in residential accommodation, the care component of DLA/CDP or the daily living component of PIP/ADP stops.5Regs 9 and 10 SS(DLA) Regs; regs 28 and 30 SS(PIP) Regs; reg 17 DACYP(S) Regs; reg 27 DAWAP(S) Regs The mobility component continues to be paid. Two or more periods in residential accommodation separated by 28 days or less are linked and count as the same period for this purpose.6Reg 10(5) SS(DLA) Regs; reg 32(4) SS(PIP) Regs; reg 17(3) DACYP(S) Regs; reg 27(3) DAWAP(S) Regs See here if the child spends time away from residential accommodation – eg, at home with you.
    Example
    Oliver is aged 12 and gets the DLA middle rate care component and lower rate mobility component. He becomes looked after and accommodated on 1 August and goes to stay in a residential unit on that date. On 21 August he goes to stay with his grandmother. At this point, he has been in the residential unit for 19 days (the day he went in and the day he left are not counted7Reg 9(7) SS(DLA) Regs; reg 19(1) DACYP(S) Regs ). This arrangement lasts until 15 September, when he returns to the residential unit. He has been at his grandmother’s for 26 days. The care component of DLA stops being payable on 25 September (assuming he remains in the residential unit until then) because he has been there for a total of 28 days. The two periods are linked because he was at his grandmother’s for only 26 days. DLA mobility component continues to be paid.
    Tell the Disability Benefit Centre (or SSS for CDP/ADP) (see Appendix 1) immediately if your child is looked after and accommodated in residential accommodation. If your child is entitled to the mobility component of DLA, CDP, PIP or ADP (which continues to be paid), the person to whom this is paid may change because of the rules about appointees (these are the same as if your child goes to live with a foster carer - see here).
    Carer’s allowance
    Entitlement to CA stops if the care component of DLA/CDP or the daily living component of PIP/ADP stops because your child has been in residential accommodation for more than four weeks (see here).
    In any event, and even if the care component/daily living component continues because your child is in foster care, you probably do not satisfy the rules for getting CA because you are not caring for the child for 35 hours or more a week. You can have a temporary break of up to four (or, in some circumstances, 12) weeks from caring and remain entitled to CA, provided the break is temporary (see here).1Reg 4(2) SS(ICA) Regs This may allow you to keep your CA for four weeks, although it may be difficult to argue that the break is temporary, depending on the circumstances of your case.
    If you are getting UC, the carer element stops if you no longer have ‘regular and substantial’ caring responsibilities for your child (see here).2Regs 29 and 30 UC Regs
    If you are getting IS, income-based JSA, income-related ESA, PC or HB/CTR, the carer premium/carer addition (see Chapter 1) stops eight weeks after your entitlement to CA stops.3IS Sch 2 para 14ZA(3) IS Regs
    JSA Sch 1 para 17(3) JSA Regs
    ESA Sch 4 para 8(2) ESA Regs
    PC Sch 1 para 4(3) SPC Regs
    HB Sch 3 para 17(2) HB Regs; Sch 3 para 9(2) HB(SPC) Regs
    CTR Sch 1 para 14(2) CTR(S) Regs; Sch 1 para 10(2) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs     If you were getting IS only on the basis of getting CA, your IS will stop eight weeks after CA stops.
    Tell the Carer’s Allowance Unit (see Appendix 1) if your child is looked after and accommodated. Inform the office dealing with your UC, IS, JSA, ESA, PC or HB/CTR claim if your entitlement to CA stops.
    Tax credits
    Your tax credit entitlement for your child stops as soon as s/he becomes looked after and accommodated.1Reg 3 r4.1 Case A CTC Regs Your CTC may reduce or, if you no longer have any dependent children at home with you, stop altogether. If you are working and getting working tax credit, this might also be affected, either because having a dependent child is the basis of your entitlement or because you are getting help with childcare costs for the child.
    Tell HMRC immediately, preferably in writing, if your child is looked after and accommodated to avoid being overpaid. Contact the Tax Credit Office to do this (see Appendix 1). If you do not tell HMRC within one month of the change, it can impose a penalty of up to £300 on you.2s32 TCA 2002
    Other benefits
    Health benefits
    If your child is looked after and accommodated, you may sometimes lose your entitlement to health benefits. This is because you may lose entitlement to a ‘qualifying benefit’ like IS or CTC, or because you are no longer treated as having a dependent child (for the Best Start foods scheme). See here for who qualifies for health benefits. Check whether you still qualify even though your circumstances have changed – eg, you can get help with some costs on low income grounds.