§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the rules surrounding the treatment of therapeutic earnings in(a) the income support regulations and (b) the housing benefit regulations; and what discretion is available to DSS officers and housing benefit officers, respectively, when assessing income from therapeutic earnings.
§ Mr. BurtNeither income support nor housing benefit has specific rules about therapeutic earnings.
In income support, both disabled and able-bodied people may work part time—under 16 hours a week—and £5 or £15 a week of their earnings will be disregarded. In 396W the case of a person who is entitled to, or has an underlying entitlement to, the disability premium, the higher, £15, disregard applies.
In addition, certain disabled people—those whose earning capacity is reduced to 75 per cent. or less of what it would be but for their disability, and people in residential care—can work for more than 16 hours a week and still be entitled to claim income support.
Unlike income support, housing benefit is payable irrespective of the number of hours worked. In housing benefit, a person who is entitled to, or has an underlying entitlement to, a disability premium will similarly receive the £15 earnings disregard. Otherwise, the amount of earnings disregarded will generally be £10 in the case of a couple, or £5 in the case of a single person.