INCOME SUPPORT BULLETIN - to be brought to the attention of all
staff.
BENEFITS SUPPORT BRANCH - ISSUE 24/93.
New Age Travellers (not to be released into the public domain).
Background.
1). Officers will be aware of the adverse reaction from the media
following the treatment of claims from this client group during
last Summer. Ministers are concerned that the Benefits Agency (BA)
and Employment Service (ES) take all necessary steps to ensure
that claims from this group are:
* scrutinised carefully; and
* administered according to regulations and case law.
2). Changes were made last year to Income Support Regulations.
Single people and childless couples who fail the actively seeking
work tests are no longer entitles to IS ['Income Support'].
Current Benefit Rules.
3). To qualify for Income Support, unemployed customers are
required to be:
* available for; and
* actively seeking work.
4). If Employment Service Jobcentres (ESJ) staff have doubts about
whether the conditions are satisfied, the case will be referred to
the ES Adjudication Officer for:
* a decision; or
* opinion in IS only cases.
5). In handling such cases, the BA Adjudication Officer, in
accordance with current instructions, may assume the eventual ESJ
decision, or opinion, will be adverse to the customer.
6). If a customer is refused IS, but still retains potential
entitlement, consider taking normal measures to prevent hardship.
See the flowchart at Appendix 1.
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This memo is an obvious invitation to benefit offices to
discriminate against people who can be labelled as 'hippies', 'new
age travellers', or other persons without a fixed address.
Action required!!.