Guidance

Chapter 10: Change of circumstances and notifications

Updated 1 April 2020

This guidance was withdrawn on 14 April 2022

This guidance is no longer current and is not being updated. Find the latest Work and Health Programme (including JETS) provider guidance.

High level must dos

Provider notifies The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of change of Circumstances (disengagement or re-engagement)

1. Jobcentre Plus interviews the Participant and notifies the Provider of outcome.

2. Provider updates records and reviews support offer.

Participant notifies provider of change of circumstances

1. Provider updates their records and reviews support offer.

2. Provider directs Participant to notify change to Jobcentre Plus.

3. Jobcentre Plus update their records.

DWP notifies Provider of change of circumstances

1. Provider updates records and reviews support offer.

Labour Market Decision Maker (LMDM) or Universal Credit Decision Maker (UCDM) notifies provider of a change of circumstances

1. Provider updates records and reviews support offer.

Provider notifies DWP of change of circumstances (disengagement or re-engagement)

1. There are two occasions where you must notify DWP of a change of circumstances. These are when a voluntary Participant in receipt of benefit has disengaged with you or when a Participant has re-engaged with you following a period of disengagement. This only applies to voluntary Participants in receipt of benefit, and there is no requirement to notify DWP of disengagement or re-engagement for a mandatory Participant or a voluntary Participant who is not in receipt of benefit.

Actions

• notify Jobcentre Plus when the Participant disengages with you, as per the criteria stated in your tender, using the change of circumstances notification form (WHP07) sent via unencrypted email
• where a change in Participant circumstances has resulted in disengagement it is important that you identify any complex needs or additional support that they may require before undertaking re-engagement activity
• continue to attempt to make contact and re-engage with the Participant pending the return of the CEPD1/UC78e as agreed in your tender for the duration of the programme (this could be up to 456 calendar days) unless you have been informed that a voluntary Participant does not want any further contact
• notify Jobcentre Plus when the Participant re-engages on the WHP07 notification form sent by unencrypted email

2. Further information regarding complex needs can be found in Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 6 –Working with Participants with complex needs or additional support requirements.

Please note

All notifications for Special Customer Record (SCR) and Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Participants will remain clerical notifications.

Background

3. Further detail is provided in the Detailed background and further information section.

Jobcentre Plus Work and Health Programme interview following voluntary Participant dis-engagement

4. Jobcentre Plus will arrange an interview within 15 working days of receiving the WHP07 notifying them of a voluntary Participant disengagement from the programme. The purpose of the interview is to find out why the Participant has disengaged from the programme and to encourage them to re-engage.

5. Prior to the interview, Jobcentre Plus will identify if the voluntary Participant has been unemployed for 24 months, and if they meet the criteria for participation on Work and Health Programme as a Long Term Unemployed (LTU) Participant. If they do, their participation on Work and Health Programme will become mandatory for their remaining balance of time on the programme. Please refer to paragraph 9 below for further information.

6. Where a Participant has attended their interview Jobcentre Plus will notify you of the outcome of the interview on a CEPD1/UC78e change of circumstances form and signpost them back to you.

7. If the Participant does not attend the interview Jobcentre Plus will notify you of the outcome on a CEPD1/UC78e form.

Actions

• on receipt of CEPD1/UC78e form update the Participants record with the outcome as notified to you
• where you have been notified that a Participant will be re-engaging with you arrange to contact them and continue to support them for the remainder of their time on the programme
• notify Jobcentre Plus when the Participant re-engages using the change of circumstances notification form (WHP07) sent via unencrypted email
• where you have been notified that a Participant will not re-engaging with you update your records with the reason for disengagement as notified to you
• where you receive a notification on a CEPD1 or UC78e that a Participant has failed to attend the Jobcentre Plus interview continue to attempt to make contact and re-engage with the Participant as agreed in your tender for the duration of the programme unless you have been informed that a voluntary Participant does not want any further contact

Please note

The Participant may re-engage with you at any point and continue on the programme for the remainder of their allotted time (this could be up to 456 calendar days).

Background

8. Further detail is provided in the Detailed background and further information section.

Voluntary Participant reaches 24 month unemployment and meets LTU eligibility

9. When a voluntary Participant in receipt of benefit reaches the 24 month unemployed stage their participation on the Work and Health Programme will remain voluntary unless they disengage from the programme.

10. If the Participant has disengaged, the Work Coach will explain to them that they are now required to participate on the Work and Health Programme for their remaining balance of time issue a revised referral letter to them and signpost them back to you. You will be notified of this change on a CEPD1 or UC78e change of circumstances form.

Actions

• update the Participants record to show that they are a voluntary Participant who is now, due to a change of circumstances, mandated to attend provision
• contact the Participant and continue to support them for the remainder of their allotted time on the programme

Consequence

Failure to update your records with a change notified to you may result in you providing inappropriate support for your Participants.

Please note

This only applies to Participants on Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) when they meet the LTU eligibility criteria and Universal Credit (UC) Participants who start in the Intensive Work Search Regime (IWSR) and are in the IWSR when they reach 24 months.

Background

11. Further detail is provided in the Detailed background and further information section.

Participant notifies provider of change of circumstances

12. It is the responsibility of the Participant to notify Jobcentre Plus of any change in their circumstances that occur whilst attending the Work and Health Programme.

Actions

• where a Participant informs you of any change of circumstance you must direct them to report the change to Jobcentre Plus
• it is important that you assess how this change affects your engagement, including where any complex needs or additional support is required
• update your records to ensure you have the most up to date information for your Participants
• keep in regular contact with the Participant to ensure you have the latest personal information

13. Further information regarding complex needs and additional support can be found in Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 6: Working with Participants with complex needs or additional support requirements.

Consequence

Failure to update your records with a change notified to you may result in you providing inappropriate support for your Participants.

Please note

In relation to bullet one above some Participants in receipt of UC have a journal, in these cases ask them to update their journal to report the change in circumstances rather than direct them to Jobcentre Plus.

Background

14. Further detail is provided in the Detailed background and further information section.

DWP notifies provider of a change of circumstances

15. It is essential that you are in regular contact with the Participant to ensure you have the latest personal information. However, DWP will also notify you of changes.

16. You may receive such notification of a Participant change of circumstance via a number of routes for example:

• Jobcentre Plus will usually notify you of a change in the Participant’s circumstances by unencrypted email to your designated in box CEPD1 for JSA, Income Support (IS) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Participants and a UC78e for UC Participants)
• some clerical notifications of change of circumstances forms may be received by post

Please note

All notifications for SCR and MAPPA Participants will remain clerical notifications.

Action

• on receipt of the notification of a Participant’s change of circumstances you must ensure that the Participant has been referred to you or your sub-contractors
• if you are satisfied that the Participant has been referred to you or your sub-contractors, you must accept the notification and review the change of circumstances
• it is important that you assess how this change affects your engagement, including where any complex needs or additional support is required
• update your records to ensure you have the most up to date information for your Participants

17. Further information regarding complex needs and additional support can be found in Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 6: Working with Participants with complex needs or additional support requirements.

Consequence

Failure to review a change of circumstances may result in you providing inappropriate support for your Participants or you may raise an incorrect compliance doubt when you mandate someone inappropriately.

Please note

If you receive a change of circumstances for someone who is not your Participant you must notify DWP and destroy the notification. Further information regarding notification of Participant change of circumstances via unencrypted email can be found in the Notification of Participant change of circumstances via unencrypted email section.

Background

18. Further detail is provided in the Detailed background and further information section.

LMDM or UCDM notifies provider of a change of circumstances

19. Where you make a compliance doubt referral for a mandatory Participant LMDMs and UCDMs may notify you of specific change of circumstances via unencrypted email on the sanction decision notifications that they send you.

20. They will notify you of a Participant’s complex needs or additional support requirements if during decision making they have established these.

Action

• review the notification and update your systems accordingly
• assess whether any complex needs or additional support is required
• consider the impact of your engagement and support with the Participant

21. Further information regarding complex needs and additional support can be found in Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 6: Working with Participants with complex needs or additional support requirements.

Consequence

Failure to review and action a change may result in you providing inappropriate support for your Participants. You may also cause extra work for you and LMDMs or UCDMs as your sanction referrals may be cancelled.

Easement for Victims of Domestic Violence

22. Where a Participant notifies Jobcentre Plus that they have been a victim of actual or threatened domestic violence, the Jobcentre will send you a UC78e for UC Participants or a CEPD1 for Participants claiming JSA, IS and ESA via unencrypted email with the start date of the easement. When the easement ends, the Jobcentre will send you another confirming the end date so that you can resume engagement with the Participant.

Actions

• on receipt of notification that an easement applies, suspend your engagement with the Participant
• for mandatory Participants a compliance doubt should not be raised if they fail to undertake a mandated activity unless completion was expected before the easement was awarded
• on receipt of notification that the easement period has ended, resume your engagement with the Participant

Consequence

Failure to review and action a change may result in you providing inappropriate support for your Participants. You may also cause extra work for you and LMDMs or UCDMs as your sanction referrals may be cancelled.

Background

23. Further detail is provided in the Detailed background and further information section.

Easement for Homeless Persons

24. Where a Participant informs Jobcentre Plus that they are homeless the Jobcentre may decide to invoke an easement. Where this is the case you will be sent a UC78e for UC Participants or a CEPD1 for Participants claiming JSA, IS and ESA.

Action

• on receipt of notification that an easement applies, adjust your engagement with the Participant accordingly
• for mandatory Participants a sanction doubt should not be raised if they fail to undertake a mandated activity unless completion was expected before the easement was awarded
• when you receive notification via change of circumstances form that the easement period has ended you should resume your engagement with the Participant

Background

25. Further detail is provided in the Detailed background and further information section.

Easement for Participants who are members of the Territorial Army or Reserves Forces

26. A member of the Reserve Forces (including the Territorial Army) is treated as being available for work when engaged in annual continuous training for a maximum of 15 days per calendar year. Such persons are also treated as actively seeking employment for any period during any week in which they are engaged in annual continuous training for at least 3 days, again up to a maximum of 15 days per calendar year.

27. Accordingly, a member of the Reserve Forces must be excused attendance from the Work and Health Programme for a maximum of 15 days in any calendar year, where they are attending their annual training camp.

Actions

• where a Participant reports that they are due to attend their annual training camp, you should advise them that they are required to report it as a change of circumstances to their local jobcentre office, before they attend the camp
• on receipt of notification that an easement applies, suspend your engagement with the Participant. No sanction doubt should be raised if they fail to undertake a mandated activity unless completion was expected before the easement was awarded
• when you receive notification that the easement period has ended you should resume your engagement with the Participant

Please note

In relation to bullet one above some Participants in receipt of UC have a journal, in these cases ask them to update their journal to report the change in circumstances rather than direct them to Jobcentre Plus.

Background

28. Further detail is provided in the Detailed background and further information section.

Extended Period of Sickness (EPS) – JSA Participants only

29. A JSA Participant can have 2 periods of sickness of up to 14 days within a job seeking period. If a Participant suffers a third or longer period of sickness, they can volunteer to stay on JSA for up to 13 weeks in a rolling 12 month period on an EPS.

Please note

A Participant’s conditionality may change during the EPS. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you if the Participant’s conditionality changes during EPS on a CEPD1.

30. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you on form CEPD1 of:

• confirmation that the participant has declared that they are unwell
• the start and end dates (if known) of the period of sickness
• if an EPS is appropriate, details of changes in the conditionality requirements
• the date from when those change apply from

Action

• if a Participant has tailored conditionality you must consider adjusting your approach during this period taking account of their circumstances
• on receipt of the notification that the Participant is on a period of sickness you must consider the Participant’s conditionality if you engage with the Participant
• if the Participant has no conditionality you must not mandate the Participant to undertake any specified activities. However, you may continue to engage with the Participant during this period taking into account their circumstances
• If the Participant has limited conditionality you must contact the Participant to discuss revisions to their action plan and agree reasonable activities you expect them to do for the time they are under limited conditionality

Consequence

Failure to update your records may result in you providing inappropriate support for your Participants. You may also cause extra work for you and LMDMs or UCDMs as your sanction referrals may be cancelled.

Background

31. Further detail is provided in the Detailed background and further information section.

Informing Jobcentre Plus of an incident or accident on your premises

32. Any incidents or accidents which occur on your premises should be reported to your Jobcentre Plus contact immediately by telephone and followed up in writing.

Actions

• contact Jobcentre Plus to report the incident or accident
• ensure immediate action is taken to ensure the safety of Participants and prevent reoccurrence
• record all accidents, including minor incidents in your accident book
• all accidents covered by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) are reported to the appropriate enforcing authority
• an investigation must be carried out to assess whether any changes should be made to the workplace or procedures following the accident or incident
• Risk Assessment Control Measures must be reviewed and, if necessary, revised to ensure their effectiveness and that they remain suitable and sufficient

33. Further Information can be found in Generic Provider Guidance Chapter 2 – Delivering Provision.

Detailed background and further information

Provider notifies DWP of Disengagement or Re-engagement

Disengaged Process – No contact with Voluntary Participant in receipt of benefit

34. Disengagement is when a Participant is no longer interacting with you for a continued period as agreed in your tender; this may also be one of your tender Customer Service Standards (tCSS). The process applies only after a Participant has started on the programme. The purpose of this process is to assist you to re-engage with a Participant who you have been unable to contact by triggering an interaction with Jobcentre Plus to establish why they have disengaged.

35. You should notify Jobcentre Plus immediately when a voluntary Participant in receipt of benefit has met your disengagement criteria as set out in your tender and you have not been able to make contact. You should complete a WHP07 form and send by unencrypted email, advising of the last date the Participant engaged with you.

36. The disengagement process should be followed if you have:

• attempted to re-engage with the Participant in line with your tender and not been able to make contact
• not received any notification from Jobcentre Plus to inform you of a change of circumstances on a CEPD1 or UC78e

37. You must notify Jobcentre Plus on the first day you deem a voluntary Participant to have disengaged from the programme and send one WHP07 per Participant by unencrypted email.

38. When notifying Jobcentre Plus of disengagement the WHP07 change of circumstances form must include details of the referring office and Work Coach. The email subject field must contain the following:

• WHP Participant Disengagement or Engagement
• Participants surname
• last 3 digits of their National Insurance Number (NINo)

39. If a SCR Participant has disengaged with you your Nominated Officer should complete the change of circumstances form, ensure that it is marked clearly that the claimant is a SCR Participant and send it to the Nominated Officer in the relevant Jobcentre Plus office by a secure postal service. Further information may be found in Generic Provider Guidance Chapter 2: Delivering Provision.

40. A Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will invite the Participant to an interview and will discuss participation in the Work and Health Programme. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you of the outcome of this interview on a CEPD1/UC78e change of circumstances form.

41. In cases where a change of circumstances may have contributed to the Participants disengagement it is important that you refer to Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 6 –Working with Participants with complex needs or additional support requirements and identify any complex needs or additional support they may require before undertaking re-engagement activity.

Disengaged Process – Contact with Voluntary Participant in receipt of benefit

42. A WHP07 is still required to be completed even though there is contact with the Participant and the Participant has asked you not to contact them.

43. Where a Participant has asked you not to contact them. The Participants request should be adhered to and their file noted with the reasons why if a reason is provided. If the Participant states that they do not want to participate anymore this is a sufficient reason to note on the file. In this scenario you should complete a WHP07 to inform Jobcentre Plus that the Participant has disengaged and wants no further contact.

Actions to take when a WHP07 has been sent

44. Where you have sent the WHP07 to the Jobcentre to instigate an interview with a Work Coach you have a responsibility to endeavour to contact and re-engage with the Participant as agreed in your tender for the duration of the programme (this could be up to 456 calendar days). This does not apply where a voluntary Participant has already advised that they do not want any further contact.

45. Therefore, if you have still had no contact from the Participant, and not received a CEPD1/UC78e from Jobcentre Plus, then you must attempt to re-engage as per the re-engagement process in your tender.

46. If the Participant contacts you and specifically requests that you do not contact them, their wishes should be adhered to and the file noted with the reasons why if a reason is provided. If the Participant states that they do not want to participate anymore this is a sufficient reason to note on the file.

47. If the Participant decides to re-engage at any point during the remainder of the 456 calendar days on programme, then Jobcentre Plus will signpost the Participant back to you for the balance of time. If the Participant has notified you directly then you will complete a WHP07 to advise that Jobcentre Plus that they have re-engaged.

Circumstances that are not considered disengagement – WHP07 not required

48. The disengagement process should not be followed and a WHP07 is not required to be completed in the following circumstances as there is contact with the Participant when you:

• make arrangements to tailor the level of engagement with a Participant who you are in contact with due to a change in circumstances, for example a Participant may have an operation and require 2 weeks recovery
• receive a CEPD1/UC78e change of circumstances notification from Jobcentre Plus where you may be asked to suspend or reduce engagement due to an easement (usually for a finite period of time)

49. As per bullet one above it is possible that a Participants participation will be affected by a change of circumstances or period of ill health. In these circumstances it may be appropriate to tailor engagement. Further information is held in Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 6 –Working with Participants with complex needs or additional support requirements, provides details around complex needs and additional support – tailoring the level of engagement with a Participant forms part of this.

Re-engagement – Completion of WHP07 for Voluntary Participants in receipt of benefit

50. You must notify Jobcentre Plus on the WHP07 change of circumstances notification form and send by unencrypted email when the Participant re-engages with you.

51. When notifying Jobcentre Plus of re-engagement the WHP07 change of circumstances form must include details of the referring office and Work Coach. The email subject field must contain the following:

• WHP Participant Engagement
• Participants surname
• last 3 digits of their (NINo

Voluntary Participant not in receipt of benefit stops engaging with you

52. If a non-benefit claiming Participant disengages, you do not need to report this change to Jobcentre Plus. You have a responsibility to endeavour to make contact and re-engage with the Participant throughout this period as agreed in your tender.

53. If the Participant contacts you and specifically requests that you do not contact them, their wishes should be adhered to and the file noted with the reasons why if a reason is provided. If the Participant states that they do not want to participate anymore this is a sufficient reason to note on the file.

54. Where a change of circumstances may have contributed to the Participants disengagement it is important that you refer to Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 6 –Working with Participants with complex needs or additional support requirements and identify any complex needs or additional support they may require before undertaking re-engagement activity and agree the appropriate level of interaction.

55. A non-benefit Participant referral will be identified on PRaP and it is your responsibility to maintain accurate records to ensure this information is up to date.

Participant receiving In-Work-Support (IWS) during extension period – WHP07 not required

56. A Participant is on the Work and Health Programme for up to 456 calendar days with a possibility of it extending to a maximum of 639 calendar days where they require IWS.

57. Where a Participant is receiving IWS and you have been unable to contact them a WHP07 should not be sent to Jobcentre Plus to notify of disengagement. In these circumstances you must still try and contact the Participant.

58. If the Participant contacts you and specifically requests that you do not contact them, their wishes should be adhered to and the file noted with the reasons why, if a reason is provided.

Compliance Checks

59. The DWP Performance and Compliance Officer will review evidence of your disengagement or re-engagement process at regular intervals against what you agreed to deliver in your tender. However, DWP is aware that some Participants may not wish to receive continued support and engagement from Providers, and they may not be receptive to continuing attempts by Providers to keep in touch.

60. It is appropriate in these cases to support the needs of the individual, therefore you should ensure you annotate your records in the following circumstances.

• a voluntary Participant has asked you not to contact them (send WHP07 to Jobcentre Plus to inform them of disengagement but contact with the Participant should cease)
• you have agreed to suspend or reduce engagement due to a change of circumstances (usually for a finite period)

61. This evidence needs to be clearly documented in your internal systems.

Participant notifies provider of change of circumstances

62. Where a Participant informs you of a change of circumstances you should direct the Participant to report the change to Jobcentre Plus and update your records accordingly.

63. It is the Participants responsibility to notify Jobcentre Plus of any change in their circumstances that occur whilst attending the Work and Health Programme.

Please note

Some Participants in receipt of UC have a journal, in these cases ask them to update their journal to report the change in circumstances rather than direct them to Jobcentre Plus.

Participant Death

64. If the Participant’s representative notifies you that the Participant has died you must direct the Participant’s representative to Jobcentre Plus to report the change.

65. You should only note your records at this stage. Do not undertake any action to input an end date and completer reason until you receive confirmation of the Participant’s death from Jobcentre Plus.

DWP notifies provider of a change of circumstances

66. You should bear in mind that a Participant may be with you throughout the 456 calendar days’ duration of the Work and Health Programme. It is essential that you are in regular contact with the Participant to ensure you have their latest personal information and that you endeavour to work with them while taking into consideration their circumstances.

67. However, DWP will also notify you of changes on a CEPD1 or UC78e change of circumstances form. It is important that you assess how this change affects your engagement, including where any complex needs or additional support is required. Further information can be found in Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 6 –Working with Participants with complex needs or additional support requirements.

68. The following sections detail changes that DWP may notify you of however this is not exhaustive.

Special Customer Records

69. Any notifications you receive from Jobcentre Plus about a SCR Participant should only be dealt with by your Nominated Officer. Further information may be found in Generic Provider Guidance Chapter 2 – Delivering DWP provision and in Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 14 – Validation.

70. All information on SCR Participants whether received from Jobcentre Plus or generated by yourselves must be stored securely at all times. Further information is contained in Generic Provider Guidance Chapter 8 – Information Security.

Please note

All notifications for SCR and MAPPA Participants will remain clerical notifications.

71. The following sub sections provide detailed background of changes that DWP may notify you of but this is not exhaustive.

Participant referred as a mandatory Participant when they should be a voluntary Participant

72. If a voluntary Participant is incorrectly referred to the Work and Health Programme as a mandatory LTU Participant the Work Coach will contact you to explain the error. They will ask you to cease any further engagement with the Participant until further notice.

73. Following notification of the error Jobcentre Plus will contact the Participant and give them the option to remain on the programme or leave.

74. Should the Participant decide to remain on the programme a Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you by email on a UC78e/CEPD1 to treat the Participant as voluntary. You should review any mandatory activities as they will no longer be appropriate.

75. If the Participant decides to leave the programme you will be notified on a UC78e/CEPD1 and you should take the appropriate action to cancel the referral as outlined in the Work and Health Programme Chapter 3 Acknowledging referrals, initial Participant engagement and registering a start.

Participant starts work

76. When a Participant starts work Jobcentre Plus will notify you if the Participant starts or ends work (including part time, voluntary, self-employed, permitted), lost work, change in hours worked.

Participant becomes sick

77. A Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you when a Participant has a period of sickness. If a Participant is in receipt of JSA they can have two periods of sickness of up to 14 days within a job seeking period. For further information please refer to EPS section detailed in this chapter.

78. UC Participants may have work search or work availability requirements switched off, for a limited period, where they are unfit for work. During this time Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches have the discretion to continue to impose a Work Focused Interview or a Work Preparation requirement.

79. Any requirements need to be reasonable based on the Participant’s medical condition. Therefore, a Participant’s participation may not change, unless the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach decides that it is unreasonable to impose a Work Preparation activity or the requirements of their participation may change.

Participant Death

80. If Jobcentre Plus becomes aware that the Participant has died they will contact you immediately by telephone and also notify you by email on a UC78e for UC Participants or a CEPD1 for Participants claiming JSA, IS and ESA.

81. Once you receive the information from Jobcentre Plus you should update the Provider Referral and Payment (PRaP) system. The actual date of death must be recorded and not the date that the notification of the Participants death was received. For further information please refer to Work and Health programme Provider Guidance Chapter 11 Programme completers and early exits.

Participant moves to another geographical area

82. If a Participant changes address to one outside your contract package area they will remain your responsibility. It will be up to you to arrange appropriate support via yourselves and your strategic partners to deliver the service requirement until the end of their allotted time.

Please note

If a mandatory Participant moves to Scotland, and whilst they remain in Scotland, they are no longer required to participate in the Work and Health Programme on a mandatory basis. However, they may choose to continue participating on a voluntary basis.

Participant is going on holiday in Great Britain (GB)

83. The process for Participants taking holidays differs depending on their benefit claim.

84. All JSA Participant groups may take holidays within GB but must remain available for work. The Participant will usually be expected to continue looking for work although they do have an opportunity to tell their Work Coach that they do not wish to do so, under regulations this can be allowed for a maximum of 2 weeks in any 12 month period.

85. For UC Participants there is no holiday easement. Participants in the IWSR must continue to demonstrate that they are both searching for work and are available for work for the number of hours identified in their Claimant Commitment. The Participant must also continue engaging in other work related requirements including the Work and Health Programme.

86. You will be expected to continue to engage with them in the same way, disregarding any holiday. Compliance doubts should continue to be raised if Participants do not fully engage in their mandatory activities.

87. All ESA Participant groups are not limited to the amount of time they are allowed to spend away from home within GB. They are not expected to notify yourselves or the Jobcentre Plus if they go on holiday.

Please note

For holiday purposes the term ‘GB includes: England, Scotland, Wales, Shetland, Hebrides, Orkney, Lundy, Isles of Scilly, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man and the territorial waters adjacent to Great Britain. ‘Great Britain’ does not include The Channel Islands for holiday purposes.

Participant is going outside GB and Northern Ireland (NI) temporarily

88. All JSA (IB) Participants going outside GB and NI will have their claim for JSA closed for the period they are away.

89. JSA (Contributory (C) Participants holidaying abroad will also have their claims closed.

90. If a JSA (C) Participant moves abroad permanently, they may have the right to claim the remainder of their benefit in the country they move to Jobcentre Plus will inform you of this change.

91. ESA Participants can go abroad for a period of up to 4 weeks and do not have to notify Jobcentre Plus that they are doing so.

92. IS Participants can go abroad for a period of up to 4 weeks, but must notify Jobcentre Plus that they are doing so.

93. In some exceptional cases ESA can be paid to a Participant whilst they are abroad for a period of up to 52 weeks. The Participant has to request permission from Jobcentre Plus if they wish to do this.

94. If permission is granted you will be notified of this change.

95. You must note the dates the Participant is away and continue engagement or support on their return home.

Participant’s entitlement to benefit changes or Labour Market Regime Changes

96. Should a Participant’s entitlement to benefit or Labour Market Regime change during their time with you, Jobcentre Plus will notify you of changes in conditionality or participation requirements.

97. It is important to bear in mind that the Participant may remain with you throughout the 456 calendar days allotted time, unless they satisfy one of the early completer reason criteria (no matter what the change or changes in their circumstance).

Participant is imprisoned

98. Should the Participant become imprisoned, they will remain on Work and Health Programme for their allotted time.

99. It is important to review the change in circumstances and consider the impact of imprisonment on your engagement or support with the Participant.

Mandatory Participant on Work and Health Programme changes from UC IWSR to another regime

100. Where you are notified that a mandatory LTU Participant on UC in the IWSR moves to another regime they remain attached with you and their participation requirements should be treated as the same as those of a Voluntary Participant.

Self-Employment whilst on UC

101. When a Participant reports that they are self-employed, or a partner that is already self-employed joins an existing claim, a Jobcentre Plus Gateway Interview is needed to provide an assessment of whether the Participant or partner is in gainful self-employment for UC purposes. You should advise the Participant to telephone the UC Service Centre to arrange a Gateway Interview to disclose their self-employment.

102. Further information on the UC self-employment gateway interview can be found in the section covering Overview of the Self Employment Gateway Interview of this chapter.

103. The requirements set out in the section covering Overview of the Self Employment Gateway Interview of this Chapter are for UC purposes only to advise you of what a Participant will need to do to meet the conditionality requirements of being self-employed whilst on UC.

104. It is for the Participant to meet the requirements for declaring as UC Self-employed, however it would be to your advantage to ensure they are complying with the requirements as DWP will access pertinent data within a Participants UC record to determine if they are gainfully self-employed.

105. For Work and Health Programme Self-Employed Outcome definition and validation requirements, please see the relevant contractual clauses and the additional information contained in Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 13 – Funding Model and Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 14 – Validation.

106. There are additional specific European Social Fund Regulations for self-employed Participants for additional information please refer to Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 14: Validation.

107. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify the outcome of the interview on a UC78e change of circumstances form. If the Participant is gainfully self-employed and a start-up period is appropriate, they should also include the start and end dates.

108. If the Participant is treated as being gainfully self-employed, the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will book a subsequent self-employed quarterly interview to take place at 3, 6 and 9 month stages. At the end of each quarterly interview (or at any other time when a change is reported), the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you if the Participant: any other time when a change is reported), the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you if the Participant:

• has ceased self-employment
• start-up period has come to an end
• is no longer gainfully self-employed
• remains gainfully self-employed, but have not taken sufficient steps to increase their earnings during a start-up period. Where the start-up period ends, the Participant’s Labour Market Regime will be amended to Working Enough Regime if they would otherwise fall within the IWSR and their participation becomes voluntary

109. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will inform you of any change to the Participant’s labour market regime and work search and work availability requirements.

110. Further information on self-employment can be found on the Self-employment-and-Universal-Credit.gov.uk website.

UC Participant or partner refuses to accept Claimant Commitment

111. As part of entitlement to UC the Participant will have a Claimant Commitment specifying the work related requirements they must complete. In the case of a couple, each will have their own Claimant Commitment. Jobcentre Plus is responsible for reviewing and updating the Participant’s Claimant Commitment to reflect any changes to the claim or their conditionality.

Please note

UC claimants must accept their Claimant Commitment but there is no requirement for them to sign it.

112. If the Participant or, in the case of a household or joint claim, their partner refuses to accept the updated Claimant Commitment they will be given a ‘cooling off’ period of 5 working days. If, either the Participant or partner refuses to accept the Claimant Commitment, their claim to UC will be closed.

113. Jobcentre Plus will notify you if the Participant (or partner) refuses to accept the updated Claimant Commitment by completing and sending a change of circumstances form.

114. If a Participant or partner refuse to accept an updated Claimant Commitment, they will still be attached to the programme on a voluntary basis. You will be notified of any further change in circumstances, such as reclaiming UC and accepting the Claimant Commitment, so you can re-engage with the Participant.

Switching off Work Related Requirements and Tailored Conditionality for UC Participants

115. There may be times when Jobcentre Plus identifies a change in the Participant’s particular circumstances that means their work search and work availability requirements detailed on the Claimant Commitment should be temporarily switched off for a limited period of time. Conditionality can also be tailored to limit work related requirements.

116. Jobcentre Plus will confirm if work related requirements must be switched off or limited to meet the Participant’s new circumstances by sending the UC78e by unencrypted email. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach (WC) will set new requirements on the Claimant Commitment and record the start and end date or review date (if applicable).

117. When work related requirements are switched off, the Participant will stay in their original labour market regime. The aim is to avoid movement between regimes and allow DWP to easily reapply full conditionality when the circumstances return to normal.

Please note

Although work search and work availability requirements may be switched off, work preparation activities may continue to apply so you could continue to engage with the Participant.

Switching off requirements for UC Participants

118. UC Regulations specify the particular circumstances when work search and availability requirements must be switched off. Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches have the discretion to switch off or tailor other work related requirements, as appropriate. This applies to Participants:

• with a self-certificate or medical evidence of illness of up to 14 days (see section ‘Participant is sick’)
• receiving or accompanying a child or qualifying young person or partner, for whom they are responsible, for medical treatment, convalescence or care outside of GB (for up to 6 months)
• bereaved following the death of their partner or their child or a child or qualifying young person, for whom they are responsible, within the past 6 months
• receiving and has been participating for no more than 6 months in a structured recovery orientated course for drug or alcohol dependency
• in prison (detained in custody pending trial or sentence or on temporary release and they remain entitled to UC)
• attending court or a tribunal as a witness
• on the witness protection programme for up to 3 months
• engaged in a public duty (for example jury service, volunteer firefighter; lifeboat server, coastguard, councillor or Territorial Army reservist)
• who have recently been a victim of domestic violence or abuse
• supporting a child who needs additional care due to the effect of bereavement, violence or abuse (including domestic violence or abuse)

Please note

Under UC Regulations, Participants who are victims of domestic violence and abuse could have all work related requirements switched off for a limited period.

119. Where you consider that work related activity should be switched off (for example, if you become aware of a change of circumstances covered in the list above), you must refer the Participant immediately to Jobcentre Plus for an assessment of their current circumstances.

120. Where Jobcentre Plus report that All Work Related activity must be temporarily switched off, you will need to suspend engagement with the Participant for the set period of time.

121. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you of the date when work related activity has been switched off on the change of circumstances form. You will need to suspend engagement with the Participant from the start date of the easement.

122. The easement period will count towards the Participant’s allotted time on Work and Health Programme. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will ensure that appropriate dates are set to review when the requirements can be switched back on. When the temporary period has ended, the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you about the re-instatement of work related requirements on a UC78e change of circumstances form so that you can re-engage with the Participant.

123. For Participants that need structured treatment for drug or alcohol dependency, the Participant will be referred formally via Jobcentre Plus to the treatment provider. Jobcentre Plus will undertake a monthly check to monitor that they remain in treatment with the approved provider for up to 182 calendar days.

Tailored Conditionality for UC Participants

124. Conditionality can also be tailored, particularly when the Participant has a temporary emergency or temporary responsibility. Therefore, Work Coaches have the discretion to switch off work search or work availability requirements where it would be unreasonable for these to be imposed on a Participant. Examples of this include:

• temporary childcare responsibilities for example where there is no appropriate childcare available during the school holidays and no other arrangements can be made or where the child is temporarily excluded from school
• dealing with a domestic emergency
• having to make funeral arrangements
• sickness that exceeds the first 14 days of sickness
• undergoing any other temporary circumstance and it would be unreasonable to expect them to work search or be available for work

125. Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches may decide that the Participant should be subject to other work related requirements. This may include work preparation requirements or work focused interview requirements, or limiting work search or work availability requirements. They will notify you of the nature of any limitations and expectations on Participants.

126. At all times, Jobcentre Plus needs to ensure that the requirements imposed on Participants are reasonable given their capability and circumstance. Therefore, Jobcentre Plus has the discretion to limit work related requirements. Jobcentre Plus will determine the limitations that need to be agreed with the Participant.

127. This can include:

• reducing the time the Participant is expected to look for work
• reducing the time they are expected to travel to work
• reducing the hours or days they are available for work
• limiting the type of work the Participant is expected to look for work

128. Once the limitations have been determined the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will create a new Claimant Commitment and notify you on the change of circumstances form.

129. Once the easement period has finished, Jobcentre Plus will notify you using another UC78e change of circumstances form, with updated requirements.

Work Availability Requirements for UC Participants

130. Participants in the IWSR must be available and willing to start work and attend a job interview immediately. In certain circumstances, as detailed below, Participants may be given more time.

• Participants who need to arrange childcare (or other care arrangements) before taking up work or attending an interview will be given up to 48 hours to attend an interview and a period of 1 month to take up a job
• Participants who are volunteers will be given up to 48 hours to attend an interview and 1 week to take up work
• Participants with a contract of employment will be given 48 hours to attend an interview and will not be required to be available until they have served their notice period
• Participants who have a fit note from a doctor will not be required to take up a new job until their fit note expires
• Participants who have recently left prison will not be required to take up work within the first 7 days of release

131. In addition, work search and availability requirements must be limited to a work location which would take Participants a maximum of 90 minutes to and from home in each direction.

Easements for victims of domestic violence

132. JSA or ESA Work related Activity Group Participants subject to conditionality can have an easement when they have been a victim of actual or threatened domestic violence.

133. JSA Participants will be excused from meeting the labour market conditions: availability, actively seeking employment, requiring a Claimant Commitment (unless they already have one) in certain circumstances, if they tell Jobcentre Plus they have been subject to domestic violence in the previous 26 weeks.

134. A Participant can also be excused from attending Worksearch Reviews during any agreed easement period.

135. There are two elements to the new easement:

• an initial 4 week period starting on the day the person notifies Jobcentre Plus that they have been threatened with or subject to actual domestic violence
• the facility to extend the initial easement to 13 weeks upon production to Jobcentre Plus of written evidence by the Participant during the initial 4 week period. If the evidence is produced, the 13 week period will begin on the same date as the 4 week period

136. The purpose of the easement is to give the Participant time to resolve any immediate issues arising from the domestic violence, such as finding new accommodation, changing children’s schools or getting legal advice etc.

137. Anyone making a new claim or already receiving benefit who tells Jobcentre Plus that they have been a victim of actual or threatened domestic violence is eligible for the initial 4 week easement as long as:

• the incident of domestic violence occurred within the previous 26 weeks
• it meets the definition of domestic violence
• they are not living at the same address as the abuser
• they have not previously had a period of domestic violence easement within the last 12 months

138. A Participant stating that they are a victim of domestic violence will not be referred to the Work and Health Programme until either the end of their 13 week easement period or after the end of the initial 4 week notification period if they fail to provide supporting evidence within that period.

139. If you identify that Participants already on the Work and Health Programme may be victims of domestic violence, you should advise the Participant to contact their Jobcentre Plus office straightaway.

140. Jobcentre Plus will consider the Participant’s eligibility and notify you in writing if the domestic violence easement applies using the CEPD1 change of circumstances form.

141. The Change of Circumstances form will state:

• whether the easement is for 4 or 13 weeks as appropriate
• start date of the easement
• anticipated end date of the easement
• reason for ending (that is, the easement reached full term, no evidence provided by the end of the fourth week, Participant no longer wishes to avail themselves of the easement
• the revised date, if the easement ended before the anticipated date

142. A Participant does not have to use all of their 13 week easement in one go. If, before the end of the period, they feel that they are able to meet the benefit conditionality requirements, they can ‘bank’ any remaining weeks and apply to use them again provided that they are used up within 12 months of their first notification to Jobcentre Plus that they have been a victim of domestic violence.

Easement for Homeless Persons

143. An easement has been introduced to help support homeless persons in finding sustainable living accommodation which will help to remove a barrier into employment.

144. The Regulations allow Jobcentre Plus to treat certain homeless Participants as meeting the Jobseeker conditions for periods of time with no limit on the number of occasions on which it can be applied.

145. This will mean that for the period of the easement the Participant will not be required to participate in the Work and Health Programme.

146. This is conditionality easement is dependent upon the Participant taking reasonable action to find living accommodation.

147. Participants who are suffering a domestic emergency as a result of recently becoming homeless can benefit from the easement. It is likely to be most suitable for the specific groups of homeless individuals mentioned below:

• rough sleepers
• those staying in direct hostels (that is, hostels designed to include short stay residency options specifically for the homeless)

148. If an easement is applied, Jobcentre Plus will advise you of this by issuing you with a change of circumstances form.

149. The change of circumstances form will explain:

• that the Participant is currently unable to attend or take part in the provision
• the reason
• date of commencement of the easement
• that you will be notified when the circumstances change

Duration and Frequency of the Easement

150. Regulations do not specify a duration for which an easement can be applied for a homeless Participant, nor set a limit on the number of occasions on which it can be applied.

151. It will be for Jobcentre Plus to decide whether a Participant’s homelessness constitutes a “domestic emergency” and the length of time for which the easement is to be applied.

152. It is not expected that a domestic emergency due to homelessness would last for more than 4 weeks, although Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches can extend the duration of the easement beyond 4 weeks if they decide that it is appropriate.

153. Jobcentre Plus will undertake a review with the Participant on a regular basis, at least fortnightly, to ensure that the continuation of the easement is still appropriate and that the Participant is taking the required actions to find sustainable accommodation.

154. Once the easement has been lifted you will be notified that the Participant can now attend or participate on the Work and Health Programme and the date from which the easement has been lifted.

155. Where an easement period applies, participation on the Work and Health Programme will be suspended for the duration of the easement. During this time, no contact with the Participant should be made and no sanction doubt should be raised if they fail to undertake a mandated activity, unless completion was expected before the easement was awarded.

156. When the easement period has finished, Jobcentre Plus will notify you using another change of circumstances form. You can then resume engagement with the Participant.

157. A Participant for whom an easement applies will not have their time on the Work and Health Programme extended. It will remain at 456 calendar days.

Easement for Participants who are members of the Territorial Army or Reserves Forces

158. A member of the Reserve Forces (including the Territorial Army) is treated as being available for work when engaged in annual continuous training for a maximum of 15 days per calendar year. Such persons are also treated as actively seeking employment for any period during any week in which they are engaged in annual continuous training for at least 3 days, up to a maximum of 15 days per calendar year.

159. The regulation states Territorial Army members or reserve forces can be deemed as available to attend training. The Territorial Army or Reserve Forces are:

• Royal Fleet Reserve
• Royal Naval Reserve
• Royal Marines Reserve
• Army Reserve
• Territorial Army
• Royal Air Force Reserve
• Royal Auxiliary Air Force
• Royal Irish Regiment

160. A Participant who is a member of the Territorial Army or Reserve Forces will be excused attendance from the Work and Health Programme for a maximum of 15 days in any calendar year, where they are attending their annual training camp.

161. Where a Participant reports that they are due to attend their annual training camp, you should advise them that they are required to report it as a change of circumstances to their local Jobcentre Plus office, before they attend the camp.

162. The Jobcentre will confirm the Participant’s attendance on the training course by sending you a change of circumstances form.

163. On receipt of the change of circumstances form stating that the Participant is taking part in annual continuous training, participation in the Work and Health Programme will be suspended for the duration of the training period and no contact should be made with the Participant.

164. No sanction doubt should be raised if the Participant fails to undertake a mandated activity, unless completion of fthat activity was expected before the annual training period commenced.

165. You can resume engagement with the Participant once the end date of the annual training period has passed.

166. A Participant for whom this easement applies will not have their time on the Work and Health Programme extended it will remain as 456 days.

Extended periods of sickness (EPS) – JSA Participants only

167. A JSA Participant can have two periods of sickness of up to 14 days within a job seeking period. If they suffer a third or a longer period of sickness, they can volunteer to stay on JSA for up to 13 weeks in a rolling 12 month period on an EPS.

168. The EPS is one continuous period of 13 weeks or less and cannot be split into separate periods. The 12 month rolling period is calculated from the first date of the EPS.

169. If the Participant volunteers to continue on JSA during the EPS, they are able to stay close to the labour market with personalised conditionality and support tailored to their illness or health condition.

170. The EPS period may be covered by form JSA28 for up to 14 days. From day 15 or day 8, if the period of sickness was expected to last longer than 2 weeks, the Participant must provide supporting medical evidence, for example, a fit note or Statement of Fitness for Work (SoFFW).

171. If supporting medical evidence is not provided the Participant will be expected to be available for and actively seeking work to stay on JSA. Supporting medical evidence will be retained by the Jobcentre and the detail relating to a Participant’s conditionality will be recorded and notified to you on a change of circumstances form.

172. Once the Participant decides to remain on JSA, the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will interview them to agree their temporary conditionality. It may be that the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach allows them to be treated as actively seeking work, for a short period of time at the beginning of the period, but they will be expected to increase their activity as they recover.

Tailored Conditionality

173. If the Participant elects to remain on JSA they will be treated as being available for work and capable for work for the whole duration of the EPS.

174. However, the Participant can be required to look for work or undertake an activity designed to improve their job prospects or keep them in touch with the labour market.

175. In deciding whether the Participant should undertake any activity, the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will take into account:

• the Participant’s health condition
• what their Fit Note states
• likely duration of sickness
• their personal circumstances

176. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will then decide whether:

• to remove the conditionality requirements completely for the whole duration of the EPS
• to remove conditionality requirements completely for part of the EPS and the Participant has limited conditionality for the remaining duration of the EPS
• the Participant has limited conditionality for the whole duration of the EPS.

For example: A Participant with a 6 week fit note may have no conditionality for the first 2 weeks however as they recover they may have 4 weeks limited conditionality.

177. Tailored conditionality means replacing the conditionality requirements with a new set of temporary requirements which take into account the change in the Participant’s health condition and which are reasonable in light of their current personal circumstances.

178. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will:

• consider when the Participant’s conditionality will be reviewed taking into account their health condition

• notify you on a CEPD1 Change of Circumstances form of any change in conditionality including:

  • if further supporting medical evidence is provided
  • if the Participant decides to end their claim to JSA
  • if the Participant’s conditionality changes
  • the date when EPS ends and when the Participant will be ready to continue with their normal Action Plan activities

Conditionality impact for Work and Health Programme Providers

179. Following the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach assessment of the Participant sickness, the Work Coach will decide to remove the Participant’s conditionality completely, that is no conditionality, or agree that the Participant has limited conditionality.

180. The decision made by the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach on the Participant’s conditionality during the EPS will have an effect on how you engage with the Participant.

181. The temporary conditionality requirements which take into account the Participant’s health condition do not affect their original Claimant Commitment.

No conditionality

182. If the Participant’s conditionality is removed you must not mandate the Participant to undertake any specified activities. However, you may continue to engage with the Participant during this period taking into account their circumstances.

Limited conditionality

183. If the Participant has limited conditionality you may contact the Participant to discuss revisions to their action plan, and agree what reasonable activities you expect them to do for the time they are under limited conditionality.

Please note

A Participant’s conditionality may change during the EPS. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you if the Participant’s conditionality changes during EPS on a change of circumstances form.

184. When deciding whether activity is reasonable, activities set will need to be tailored to the health condition or illness and reviewed on a regular basis to ensure they remain appropriate to the Participant as they recover or if their health deteriorates.

185. Whilst the Participant has limited conditionality they can be supported towards employment for the whole duration of the EPS. The Participant must not be mandated to take up work however they can be mandated to apply for a job or complete activities that are steps towards preparing them for work.

Please note

If the period of EPS overlaps a period where you have previously mandated the Participant to undertake specified activities a new notification may have to be issued to mirror amendments to the Participant’s action plan if they have limited conditionality. Alternatively, if they have no conditionality the notification will have to be withdrawn taking into account the Participant’s circumstances.

Notification to Work and Health Programme Provider

186. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you on a CEPD1 change of circumstances form of:

• confirmation that the Participant is on an EPS
• the start and end dates of the EPS
• details of their conditionality (whether No conditionality or Limited conditionality)
• start and end dates of each conditionality period

187. On receipt of the notification you should note your records of the dates of the EPS period and tailor your engagement with the Participant taking into consideration any conditionality notified by the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach.

188. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will issue further CEPD1 change of circumstances forms during the period they are on EPS in the following circumstances:

189. if further supporting medical evidence is provided

• if the Participant decides to end their claim to JSA
• to notify you if the Participant’s conditionality changes
• to notify you of the date when EPS ends and when the Participant will be ready to continue with their normal action plan activities

190. If you have not received another CEPD1 change of circumstances notification by the end date of the EPS you should contact the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach who will advise and issue change of circumstances form with the appropriate information.

Please note

If a Participant brings a Fit Note to you, you must not accept the Fit Note and you should refer the Participant to Jobcentre Plus.

Health condition likely to last longer than 13 weeks

191. At the point the health condition or illness looks likely to last more than 13 weeks the Participant will be advised to claim ESA by the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach.

192. Where this is the case the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will advise you by issuing a change of circumstances form. You should take the usual action to engage with the Participant on a change in their conditionality. If the Participant claims ESA they become a voluntary Participant so any subsequent Failure to Attend would not trigger sanctions activity.

Participant no longer sick

193. If the Participant does not supply a further Fit Note, the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will notify you on a change of circumstances form that the Participant is no longer sick and has returned to their original conditionality. You may contact the Participant to discuss their ongoing support.

Notification of Participant change of circumstances via unencrypted email

194. It is the responsibility of the Participant to notify Jobcentre Plus of any change in their circumstances that occur whilst attending Work and Health Programme. Where a Participant informs you of a change of circumstances, you are to direct them to report the change to Jobcentre Plus.

Please note

Some Participants in receipt of UC have a journal, in these cases ask them to update their journal to report the change in circumstances rather than direct them to Jobcentre Plus.

195. For Participants claiming JSA, IS and ESA you will be notified of any changes that impact participation via unencrypted email using the CEPD1 form.

196. For Participants claiming UC you will be notified of any changes that impact participation via unencrypted email using the UC78e form.

197. On receipt of the notification of Participant change of circumstances: ensure that the Participant has been referred to you or your sub-contractors.

198. If referred by email, check that only one change of circumstances form has been attached to the email.

199. If you have received a change of circumstances form for an individual who has not been referred to you or your sub-contractors, or an email containing more than 1 claimant record, or an email sent to an address other than your designated inbox you must notify DWP.

200. To mitigate the risk of data being lost, DWP Operational Security has restricted the number of client records that may be transmitted via the unencrypted email process to a maximum of 1 client record on a CEPD1/UC78e form per email. If more than 1 client record per email is sent via the unencrypted email process, this will constitute a security breach and must be reported to DWP as per current instructions see Generic Provider Guidance, Chapter 8 – Information Security.

201. If you receive more than 1 CEPD1/UC78e form in an email and you are satisfied that the Participants are attached to you or your sub-contractors, you may process the change as normal as well as reporting this as a security incident to DWP Operational Security (see Generic Provider Guidance, Chapter 8 – Information Security).

202. If you receive a CEPD1/UC78e form for an individual who is not attached to you or your sub-contractors, you must report the security incident (see Generic Provider Guidance, Chapter 8 – Information Security) and then delete the email and CEPD1/UC78e form or forms.

203. The notification will be sent on a CEPD1/UC78e form from individual Jobcentre Plus email inbox addresses. The format of the Jobcentre Plus email addresses will be ‘firstname.lastname@dwp.gov.uk’

204. To mitigate the risk of information other than that permitted by DWP security, each email sent by Jobcentre Plus will adhere to the standard email protocols listed below:

• you will receive only 1 CEPD1/UC78e form per e mail
• the standard wording displayed in the email “Subject Box” will be:
  
  CEPD1/UC78e_ Work and Health Programme_CPA_Participants surname¬ last 3 digits of Participants NINO
  
  For example:
  CEPD1__Work and Health Programme CPA1 Sample_56_C
  UC78e¬ Work and Health Programme _CPA1_Sample_56_C

Please note

All notifications for SCR Participants will remain clerical notifications and will not be sent via email. Further information regarding SCR cases and what action you need to take please refer to Generic Provider Guidance Chapter 2 – Delivering Provision.

Forwarding emails to your sub-contractors

205. You may forward UC78e or CEPD1 change of circumstances forms received by unencrypted email to DWP approved sub-contractors and inboxes within your organisation provided that:

• no more than 1 Participant record at a time is emailed
• a business need to share the information exists
• the recipient is legitimately entitled to receive the information (emails must not be automatically forwarded without ensuring this)

Please note

You must keep a record of where and when you sent the notification form for 3 months.

Contingency process

206. There may be occasions when due to circumstances such as IT failure you are temporarily unable to receive change of circumstances via unencrypted email from Jobcentre Plus offices.

207. In these circumstances you must ensure that your DWP District Third Party Provision Manager (TPPM) is kept informed of the situation and how long you anticipate it lasting.

208. The TPPM will inform Jobcentre Plus colleagues of the situation and they will temporarily suspend the use of unencrypted email.

209. If you anticipate the situation will continue for 48 hours or longer you must revert to the change of circumstances clerical contingency of receiving the CEPD1/UC78e through the post until the problem is resolved and you are able to use the unencrypted email again.

210. Your TPPM should be kept updated and prior to you starting to use the contingency arrangements you must inform the TPPM when these arrangements will start. Also before you begin to use the unencrypted email process again you must notify the TPPM.

211. If Jobcentre Plus have an IT failure, your TPPM will notify you if the problem will last for longer than 48 hours and that Jobcentre Plus will revert to the contingency arrangements of sending the CEPD1/UC78e form through the post.

212. Once resolved, your TPPM will notify you when you can expect to start receiving electronic change of circumstances forms again.

Overview of the Self Employment Gateway Interview

Please note

These requirements set out in this section of the Chapter are for UC purposes only to advise you of what a Participant will need to do to meet the conditionality requirements of being Self-Employed whilst on UC, this will be for the Participant to meet these requirements, however it would be to your advantage to ensure the Participant is complying with the requirements for declaring as UC self-employed Participant as DWP will access pertinent data within a Participants UC record to determine if the Participant is gainfully self-employed. For meeting the Work and Health Programme Self-employed outcome definition and validation requirements, please see the relevant contractual clauses and the additional information Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 13 – Funding Model and Work and Health Programme Provider Guidance Chapter 14 – Validation.

A.01. When a Participant who is claiming UC, and is in the All Work Related Requirements group (IWSR), reports to Jobcentre Plus that they are self-employed they will be required to attend a Gateway Interview with a Jobcentre Plus Work Coach to decide whether they are gainfully self-employed.

A.02. The Participant will be required to bring a completed Self-Employed Declaration and as much evidence as possible of their self-employed business.

For example:

• their unique tax reference
• list of customers, suppliers, invoices and receipts
• previous tax returns
• previous declarations of income for tax credits
• business account bank details and statements
• trading accounts from the previous year
• name, address and telephone number of their accountant
• a diary of appointments, business meetings
• business plans and or marketing material

This list is not exhaustive and the Participant does not need to provide all of them.

Gainfully Self-employed

A.03. For UC purposes, to be gainfully self-employed the following criteria must be satisfied:

• activity is carried out on a self-employed rather than an employed basis
• self-employment is the Participant’s main employment
• self-employment is regular, organised, developed and carried out in expectation of profit

A.04. The Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will consider a person is probably self- employed if they meet some or all of the following:

• run their own business and take responsibility for its success or failure
• usually have several customers at the same time
• decide how, when and where they do their work
• can hire, at their expense, people to do the work for them or help them do it
• provide the main items of equipment needed to do their work
• whether the activity is undertaken for financial gain
• the number of hours spent each week on the work
• any business plan or steps taken to increase income from the activity
• how HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regard the activity
• how much work is in the pipeline
• whether the Participant is actively marketing or advertising for work

A.05. If the Participant’s earnings are derived from employment under a contract of service, or in an office or other ‘casual’ paid work they are not self-employed.

A.06. At the end of the Gateway Interview, the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach will issue a decision letter to the Participant.

Start-Up Period

A.07. To support them while they grow their business, Participants who have been assessed as Gainfully Self-Employed may get a Start-Up Period during which they can continue to claim UC without any requirement to look for alternative work. A Start-Up Period will be available to self-employed Participants who:

• are gainfully self-employed for UC purposes
• haven’t been undertaking the self-employed activity for more than 12 months before the start of the UC assessment period in which the Gateway Interview takes place
• haven’t had a start-up period in the last 5 years
• are taking appropriate steps to increase their earnings with the aim of ultimately increasing earnings to the level of their conditionality earnings threshold

A.08. The Start-Up Period runs from the beginning of the UC assessment period in which the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach agrees the Start-Up Period is applicable and ends after 1 year unless the Participant fails to continue to satisfy the criteria.

A.09. During the start-up period the Participant must attend quarterly interviews with a Jobcentre Plus Work Coach in order to meet their conditionality requirements. At the interviews the Participant must show that they remain gainfully self-employed and that they have been taking steps to increase their earnings, with the ultimate aim of increasing earnings to the level of their individual conditionality earnings threshold.

A.10. The Participant will indicate the steps they plan to take at the Gateway Interview and subsequent quarterly interviews, and if the Jobcentre Plus Work Coach agrees they are appropriate they will be set out in their Claimant Commitment.

Minimum Income Floor (MIF)

A.11. The MIF is applied to Participants who are assessed as Gainfully Self Employed and would otherwise fall in the IWSR, where the Start-Up Period is not applicable.

A.12. The MIF is an assumed level of net earnings for a self-employed Participant that matches the work expectations of any other Participant with similar circumstances. The MIF is a monthly amount calculated on the basis of working up to a maximum of 35 hours per week and multiplied by the National Minimum Wage for their age group minus tax and National Insurance Contributions.

A.13. If the Participant’s actual earnings are below the MIF, their UC award will be calculated using the MIF. If declared earnings exceed the MIF, actual earnings will be used to calculate the UC award. Participants who have the MIF applied are placed in the Working Enough regime.

Should you require a copy of any of the forms mentioned in this chapter, please email: WHP.ENQUIRIES@DWP.GOV.UK