Genuine and sufficient link wording omitted from regulations 9A and 9B

Words in regulation 9A(1)(c) and regulation 9B(c) of The Social Security (Invalid Care Allowance) Regulations 1976 were omitted in England, Wales and Scotland with effect from 7 November 2024¹. The change was made by The Social Security (Genuine and Sufficient Link to the United Kingdom) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/936), alongside corresponding Scottish regulations¹.

Regulations 9A and 9B were inserted into the 1976 Regulations on 8 April 2013 by The Social Security (Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Carer's Allowance) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/389)¹. The 1976 Regulations themselves came into operation on 12 April 1976¹.

The 1976 Regulations set out conditions for carer's allowance, including the 35 hour a week caring requirement and the rules on presence in Great Britain. A person is treated as engaged and as regularly and substantially engaged in caring for a severely disabled person on every day in a week if, and shall not be treated as engaged or regularly and substantially engaged on any day in a week unless, as at that week he is, or is likely to be, engaged and regularly engaged for at least 35 hours a week in caring for that severely disabled person¹. Where a person cares for two or more severely disabled persons in a week, he is treated as engaged and regularly and substantially engaged in caring for a severely disabled person only where he is engaged and regularly engaged for at least 35 hours in that week in caring for any one severely disabled person, considered without reference to any other severely disabled person for whom he is caring¹.

The regulations also provide that a person is treated as present in Great Britain for a period of, or periods amounting in the aggregate to, not less than 104 weeks in the 156 weeks immediately preceding the day in question¹. On earnings, the regulations refer to earnings in the immediately preceding week having exceeded £204¹.

The text of regulation 9A(1)(c) and regulation 9B(c) as it stood before the omission is not reproduced in the revised version of the 1976 Regulations¹. The effect of removing those words on individual claims has not been reported.

Why it matters for households

The change affects the residence test for carer's allowance in England, Wales and Scotland from 7 November 2024¹. People claiming carer's allowance, or considering a claim, are assessed against the genuine and sufficient link rules in regulations 9A and 9B of the 1976 Regulations¹. Removing words from regulation 9A(1)(c) and regulation 9B(c) alters the wording of those tests, though the revised text does not show what the omitted words said¹.

Carer's allowance is a benefit for people who spend at least 35 hours a week caring for a severely disabled person¹. The residence rules sit alongside the other conditions in the 1976 Regulations, including the 104 week presence requirement in the 156 weeks before the day in question¹.

Separate provision applies in Scotland, where corresponding regulations were made¹.

What happens next

No further steps are set out in the revised regulations beyond the changes already recorded¹. The revised version notes that there are currently no known outstanding effects for the 1976 Regulations¹.