The Income Support (General) Regulations 1987

Persons treated as available for employment

9.—(1) Except in a case to which regulation 10 (circumstances in which claimants are not to be treated as available for employment) applies, a claimant shall be treated as available for employment if, and only if—

(a)he is available to be employed within the meaning of section 17(1)(a)(i) of the Social Security Act(1) or Regulations made under it (requirement to be available to be employed for the purposes of unemployment benefit) in employment to which regulation 7 applies (meaning of employment); or

(b)he is normally engaged for less than the number of hours prescribed in paragraph (c) of regulation 7 in respect of him in employment to which that regulation applies, and he is available, within the meaning of section 17(1)(a)(i) or Regulations made under it, for such further number of hours which would, in aggregate with the number of hours for which he is normally engaged, be not less than the number of hours prescribed in paragraph (c) of regulation 7 for his case; or

(c)he satisfies the conditions in paragraph (2) and is attending—

(i)a course of education at an establishment recognised by the Secretaryof State as being, or as comparable to, a school or college; or

(ii)a course of training or instruction analogous to a course for which a training allowance would be payable,

and, in either case, he is prepared to terminate the course immediately a suitable vacancy becomes available to him.

(2) the conditions referred to in paragaph (1)(c) are that either—

(a)the claimant was, for a continuous period of not less than three months falling immediately before the commencement date,—

(i)in receipt of a qualifying benefit; or

(ii)on a course of training or instruction organised by or on behalf of the Manpower Services Commission as part of the Youth Training Scheme; or

(b)during the period of six months falling immediately before the commencement date the claimant was—

(i)for a period, or periods in aggregate, of not less than three months in receipt of a qualifying benefit or on a course of training or instruction organised by or on behalf of the Manpower Services Commission as part of the Youth Training Scheme; and

(ii)after the period referred to in head (i) of this sub-paragraph or, in the case of periods in aggregate, after the first such period and throughout the remainder of the six months for which that head did not apply to him, engaged in appropriate work;

and that the period of three months referred to in sub-paragraph (a) or, as the case may be, the period of six months referred to in sub-paragraph (b) fell wholly after the terminal date.

(3) In this regulation—

“appropriate work” means remunerative work for the purpose of section 20(3)(c) of the Act (conditions of entitlement to income support) or other work the emoluments from which are such as to disentitle the person engaged in it from a qualifying benefit;

“commencement date” means the date on which the claimant first attended the course of education or course of training or instruction;

“course” means a course in the pursuit of which the time spent receiving instruction or tuition, undertaking supervised study, examination or practical work or taking part in any exercise, experiment or project for which provision is made in the curriculum of the course does not, subject to paragraph (4), exceed 21 hours a week;

“qualifying benefit” means unemployment benefit or sickness benefit under the Social Security Act(2) or, in the case of a claimant who is required to be available for employment under section 20(3)(d) of the Act (conditions of entitlement to income support) or who is not so required under paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 (persons not required to be available by reason of sickness or incapacity), income support.

(4) In calculating the time spent in pursuit of a course for the purpose of this regulation, no account shall be taken of time occupied by meal breaks or spent on unsupervised study, whether undertaken on or off the premises of the educational establishment or place of instruction or training.