Commentary on Sections Schedule 7: Jobseeker’s allowance in interim period: consequential amendments Section 59: Claimant commitment for income support
307.Section 59 amends SSCBA 1992 and SSAA 1992 to introduce claimant commitments for people claiming IS.
308.Subsection (2) amends section 124 of SSCBA 1992 to make accepting a claimant commitment a condition of entitlement for IS. Regulations may allow for circumstances in which a claimant may be entitled without having accepted a claimant commitment.
309.Subsection (3) inserts new a new section 124A into SSCBA 1992 which provides that the claimant commitment is a record of the claimant’s responsibilities and may contain particular prescribed information as well as any other information that the Secretary of State considers it appropriate to include. This may include information about any requirement which may be imposed on a claimant of IS, such as a requirement to take part in work-focused interviews.
310.New subsection (2) provides that the claimant commitment may be reviewed and updated by the Secretary of State. Under new subsection (5) the claimant must accept the most up-to-date version of the claimant commitment to meet the condition of entitlement.
311.Subsection (6) of the new section 124A provides that regulations can set out circumstances in which a claimant is to be treated as having accepted a claimant commitment (and therefore meeting the relevant condition of entitlement).
312.Subsection (4) of the section amends section 2F(3)(b) of SSAA 1992 to the effect that directions about work-related activity for claimants of IS may be notified to a claimant in such manner as the Secretary of State thinks fit. This enables any such directions to be notified through the claimant commitment.
313.Subsection (5) amends section 2G of SSAA 1992 to enable functions relating to the claimant commitment to be contracted out.