What are light touch requirements?

RealElement47

"The AET for a joint claim is £541 per assessment period*
​
Does that really mean in a couple if one had a part time job earning about £570 month then the other one does not have any work search requirements?

calcotti

RealElement47 wrote: »

"The AET for a joint claim is £541 per assessment period*
​
Does that really mean in a couple if one had a part time job earning about £570 month then the other one does not have any work search requirements?

Yes.
https://www.uceplus.co.uk/light-touch-regime1.html

I think this is to reflect legacy benefits. The threshold is the point at which a JSA claim would not be possible due to income. Under legacy benefits it would still have been possible to claim Housing Benefit and Tax Credits which have no work search conditionality.

RealElement47

It's just not true in one case, the husband is working and ear in more than£600 per month but the wife has to keep going to job centre and prove she is looking for work?

Why is that then if the requirement is just £541 per month?

RealElement47

Somebody else told me you both need to be working or they give the one not working a hard time if they are not looking for work, or they sanction you and stop your universal credit?

What is the true facts about this?

AG47

RealElement47 wrote: »

"The AET for a joint claim is £541 per assessment period*
​
Does that really mean in a couple if one had a part time job earning about £570 month then the other one does not have any work search requirements?

I don’t exactly know what the numbers are but I think if a Couple are only earning £570 per month then they would have to be looking for more work.

I would like to know what the exact details re though, can anybody post a link or just write a post explaining the details?

pmlindyloo

This link might help:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/301588/response/743734/attach/3/FOI%204794%20part%201.pdf

NedS

RealElement47 wrote: »

It's just not true in one case, the husband is working and ear in more than£600 per month but the wife has to keep going to job centre and prove she is looking for work?

Why is that then if the requirement is just £541 per month?

If the wife has a child under the age of 3 (and is the main carer) then yes, they will still be expected to attend WFI appointments at the jobcentre regardless of their partner's earnings. But they won't have work / work search requirements placed upon them.

This is because Light Touch is a work related regime, and the main carer for a child under the age of 3 can not be a member of a work related regime.

calcotti

AG47 wrote: »

I don’t exactly know what the numbers are but I think if a Couple are only earning £570 per month then they would have to be looking for more work.

I would like to know what the exact details re though, can anybody post a link or just write a post explaining the details?

This question has already been answered in the other thread where you asked the same question https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6097970/mif-grace-period-between-jobs#topofpage

See https://www.uceplus.co.uk/light-touch-regime.html

RealElement47

Please forgive me but I still don't understand it in a clear and consise way.

I wish there were clear easy to understand numbers put in a simple way.

-

I know a couple who have only one of them working nd earning bout £600 month, and the other one is put under pressure to get work and in rede their earnings, she has to keep going to appointments at the job center otherwise they will hve sanctions.

But this link seems to show the job centre is wrong with the numbers.....

https://www.uceplus.co.uk/light-touch-regime.html
If someone is in the “all work group” and earns their AET (Administrative Earnings Threshold) then they will have no mandatory work related requirements – including work search.

But this JC does indeed put work search requirements on her?

The AET for a single person is £338 per assessment period*
The AET for a joint claim is £541 per assessment period*
​
*please note that unearned income and self-employed earnings cannot be used towards the AET. It is strictly only earnings paid by an employer

This means that if you have earnings on your claim that meet the AET your commitments should not have any work related requirements on it. To recognise if you are already in light touch regime visit your UC homepage and click my commitments. If you are being recognised as in Light Touch Regime, your commitments will reflect the example below.

calcotti

http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2019-0980/2._Administrative_and_Conditionality_Earnings_Threholds_v3.0.pdf
This is official guidance deposited by DWP in the House of Commons library. For some reason I cannot get this link to post correctly so I’ve pasted the content below.

Administrative and Conditionality Earnings Thresholds
Administrative Earnings Threshold
The Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) has been introduced to help to highlight those claimants with no income, or on a very low income below AET, so they can receive the most intensive support. The AET is set at an individual or household level. This threshold has been set at £338 per month for an individual and £541 for a household.
Unlike the Conditionality Earnings Threshold (CET), the individual or household AET are static amounts, but may be adjusted - usually in April, when benefits are uprated. Whilst both thresholds (CET and AET) are based on gross taxable pay, only employed earnings can contribute to meeting the AET (this means that self- employed earnings will not count towards it).
For more guidance about the AET, see Labour Market conditionality and regimes.

Conditionality Earnings Threshold
The CET ensures that claimants earning above a certain level will not be asked to carry out work-related activity. The CET is calculated on an individual basis, by multiplying the National Minimum Wage by the number of a claimant’s expected hours.
The CET for a household is a combination of the individual expected CET of each of the adults in the household (joint claimants or including an ineligible partner of a claimant) and varies between different households. In a couple household, if one of the adults has earnings above the household CET, both claimants are placed in the Working Enough regime, regardless of whether they are both working or not.

My emphasis.

calcotti

RealElement47 wrote: »

I know a couple who have only one of them working nd earning bout £600 month, and the other one is put under pressure to get work and in rede their earnings, she has to keep going to appointments at the job center otherwise they will hve sanctions.

But this link seems to show the job centre is wrong with the numbers.....

Just because the JobCentre is doing something doesn’t mean they are correct to do so.