§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether student loans can be taken into account in calculating other benefits for(a) the student and (b) the student's spouse or partner; [152468]
(2) whether Jobseeker's Allowance eligibility is affected by the claimant's partner's student loan. [152471]
§ Mr. Pond [holding answer 3 February 2004]Income related benefits are intended to help people whose resources are insufficient to meet their day to day living expenses; any income available to meet those expenses is normally taken into account when working out how much benefit can be paid.
A person in receipt of an income related benefit, including JSA (income based), Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit will therefore have their or their partner's student loan taken into account when calculating the amount of benefit payable. Up to £605 of a student loan may be disregarded to take into account costs of travel, books and equipment.
Benefits that are not income related, including contribution based benefits, will not be affected by a student loan.