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Students and Benefits E-bulletin - June 2010
Dear Colleague,
Welcome to the June edition of CPAG in Scotland's students and benefits e-bulletin, keeping you up-to-date with changes to benefits and tax credits which are relevant to students.
Contents:
CPAG news and events
- CPAG in Scotland's advice line for advisers
- Benefits for students training courses
Benefits and tax credits
- Students and jobseeker's allowance
- Fit notes
- Transfer to ESA for disabled students
Student funding
- Higher education funding changes
CPAG news and events
CPAG in Scotland's advice line for advisers
Our advice line provides advice and information to advisers and other frontline workers in Scotland on all aspects of the welfare benefits and tax credits systems. Please note we are not able to provide a service directly to people claiming benefits. To contact the advice line you can phone (Monday to Thursday mornings, between 10am and 12 noon, 0141 552 0552) or email advice@cpagscotland.org.uk
Benefits for students training courses
Introduction to benefits for student advisers
26 – 27 October 2010, Glasgow (10am - 4pm)
This two-day course equips advisers who are new to benefits with a basic knowledge of social security benefits and tax credits and explains the different benefits that further and higher education students can claim. The course aims to give participants on day one:
- Knowledge of the benefits and tax credits systems
- Awareness of the benefits available to people in different circumstances
- A guide to using the Benefits for Students in Scotland Handbook
- An introduction to basic benefit calculations
And on day two:
- Definitions of full-time study and part-time study for benefits
- Eligibility of students for benefits and tax credits
- Overview of how student funding affects benefits and tax credits
You can book this two-day course on its own. Or you can add Students and benefits – treatment of income on 10 November 2010 to make it a three-day course.
Level Introductory Tutor Angela Toal
SNS 4.17 CPD 10 hours
Two-day course fee: £153 for CABx, £178 for voluntary, colleges and housing associations and £248 for statutory.
Three-day course fee: £228 for CABx, £263 for voluntary, colleges and housing associations and £378 for statutory.
To book a place click here.
Students and benefits – treatment of income
10 November 2010, Glasgow (10am - 4pm)
The effect of student funding and other income on benefits and tax credits is complex. This experienced-level course considers in detail how income, particularly student funding in Scotland, affects benefits for students in both HE and FE. Benefit calculations showing how income affects entitlement will be part of this training.This course covers:
An introduction to student funding
How grants, loans, bursaries and other student funding affect benefits and tax credits
How other kinds of income affect benefits and tax credits
Level Experienced Tutor Angela Toal
SNS 4.17 CPD 5 hours
One-day course fee: £93 for CABx, £108 for voluntary, colleges and housing associations and £153 for statutory.
To book a place click here.
Please also see our student and benefits flyer. All of these courses can be organised in your workplace or at a venue that suits you.
Benefits and tax credits
Students and jobseeker's allowance
Part-time students are eligible for jobseeker's allowance (JSA), but must be willing to rearrange or give up their course if they get a job. Some full-time students are eligible for JSA in the summer vacation between years of their course: this includes lone parents, and couples who are both full-time students and have a child/children. To qualify you must have a child that you can claim child benefit for, ie a child under 16, or a young person aged 16 to 19 in full-time further education. (Note: if you are a lone parent with a child under 10 (7 from October 2010) you can claim IS in the summer vacation instead of JSA.)
Like anyone else claiming JSA, you are required to be available for and looking for work. There are flexibilities built into the system, however, for people who have caring responsibilities for children. These include:
- you only have to be available for work for at least 16 hours per week (it is usually 40 hours), even if this means that there is no reasonable prospect of employment within daily travelling distance
- you only need to be available for an interview on one week's notice, and available for work on 28 days’ notice
- from 26 April 2010, a lone parent with a youngest child aged 12 or under can restrict their availability to their child's normal school hours during term time
- you count as available for work in the school holidays, if you care for a child under 16, and it is unreasonable to make other arrangements for their care. Note however that this does not appear to apply to full-time students.
Fit notes
Sick notes (medical certificates from doctors) were replaced by ‘fit’ notes in April 2010. A doctor completing the certificate can specify that the person is either ‘not fit for work’ or ‘may be fit for work taking account of the following advice...’
This advice may include suggesting a gradual return to work, or workplace alterations. There is no requirement for employers to make any of the suggested changes. Whether a doctor states that someone is ‘not fit for work’ or ‘may be fit for work...’ this will be accepted as valid evidence of not being able to work for benefit claims.
Transfer to ESA for disabled students
Subject to any changes introduced by the new Government, people on incapacity benefit (IB), or on income support (IS) because of illness or disability, will be transferred to employment and support allowance (ESA) between 2010 and 2014. Students with a disability or illness who are on IS may be getting benefit for a variety of reasons, eg because they are registered blind, because they get disability living allowance (DLA), or because they have been incapable of work for 28 weeks or more. However they would only be entitled to move to income-related ESA if they get DLA. This is because income-related ESA is only paid to a full-time student who is in receipt of DLA. CPAG raised this as a concern and a concession has now been made that will allow any student on IS because of illness/disability to transfer to income-related ESA whether or not they get DLA.
Example:
Roger gets IS because of mental health problems. He does not get DLA because he has no care needs or mobility problems. He is on a full-time FE course and gets IS of over £90 per week. His award is converting to income-related ESA, and because he does not get DLA he would not normally be eligible for income-related ESA while studying full-time. However the special rules allow him to transfer to income-related ESA, and his benefit continues.
Student funding
Higher education funding changes
There are some forthcoming changes to funding for higher education (HE) full-time students from the start of the 2010/11 academic year:
- An independent students' bursary will be available to independent students who have a low enough household income. The bursary is up to £1000, and replaces part of the student loan.
- The additional loan, previously only available to students who are eligible for the young students’ bursary, will be extended to all students with a low enough household income. This loan will be up to £785, depending on household income, and will increase the maximum support available to independent students.
For more information go to www.saas.gov.uk
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© Michaela Greene
