Genuine and sufficient link requirement omitted from regulations 22 and 23

The words "genuine and sufficient link" have been omitted from regulations 22(c) and 23(c) of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013, according to the revised text of those regulations¹. The change took effect in England and Wales on 7 November 2024 and was made by The Social Security (Genuine and Sufficient Link to the United Kingdom) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/936)¹. A corresponding change in Scotland was made by S.S.I. 2024/241¹.

The 2013 Regulations were made on 25 February 2013 by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under powers in the Welfare Reform Act 2012, and came into force in relation to a particular case on the day Part 4 of that Act came into force for that case¹. They set out the assessment for personal independence payment, including the daily living and mobility activities and the points thresholds: at least 8 points for limited ability and at least 12 points for severely limited ability in relation to daily living activities, and the same thresholds for mobility activities¹.

Under regulation 4(2A), inserted on 8 April 2013, a person is assessed as satisfying a descriptor only if they can do so safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and within a reasonable time period¹. "Reasonable time period" means no more than twice as long as the maximum period that a person without a physical or mental condition limiting that person's ability to carry out the activity would normally take¹.

The regulations have been amended repeatedly since 2013.

The revised text records that there are currently no known outstanding effects for the 2013 Regulations, and notes that revised legislation on the site may not be fully up to date¹.

Why it matters for households

The omission concerns the test used in regulations 22(c) and 23(c) of the 2013 Regulations, which sit within the rules on entitlement to personal independence payment. The change took effect in England and Wales on 7 November 2024, with a separate Scottish instrument, S.S.I. 2024/241, making the equivalent change¹. The revised text does not set out what the words did before they were removed, and no replacement wording is shown in the passage quoted¹.

The rest of the assessment framework is unchanged in the text: the points thresholds of 8 and 12 for limited and severely limited ability, the requirement that a descriptor be satisfied safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and within a reasonable time period, and the definition of a reasonable time period as no more than twice the time a person without a limiting condition would normally take¹.

The regulations also provide that doing work for payment or in expectation of payment, or doing voluntary work, is not a reason for a fresh determination¹. A previous award of personal independence payment or adult disability payment that ended not more than 2 years before a new claim is made is relevant to the prescribed date rules, which use a period of 3 months ending with the prescribed date together with the period of 9 months beginning the day after it¹.