Commentary on Sections Special Rules Affecting Tax Credit and Universal Credit Claimants Section 31: Power to provide for automatic termination of universal credit
145.Section 31 allows regulations to be made to terminate a person’s or their partner’s universal credit award or entitlement to payments related to universal credit, where the person has made a valid declaration of eligibility under the new scheme. This is to prevent anyone from receiving universal credit or related payments at the same time as claiming childcare support under the new scheme.
146.Subsection (2) gives the Treasury power to amend the Act by regulations in order to provide that entitlement to universal credit ceases when a person has made a valid declaration of eligibility under the new scheme, and to amend or repeal the eligibility criteria in section 11. This would mean that a universal credit award made to a person who moved to the new scheme would simply terminate when they moved across. The subsection also enables the Secretary of State or a Northern Ireland department to be given power to make regulations to ensure that a person’s or their partner’s entitlement to universal credit is calculated correctly where an award is terminated under this section.