(Minister of
State for Employment): I am today laying a
proposed draft Remedial Order to amend the Jobseekers (Back to
Work Schemes) Act 2013.
The proposed draft Remedial Order ensures the right to a fair
hearing for a small group of job seekers who had a live appeal
against a sanction decision made under the Jobseeker’s Allowance
(Employment, Skills and Enterprise Schemes) Regulations 2011
(“the ESE Regulations”) when the 2013 Act came into force. It
enables the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to change
this sanction decision and refund the amount withheld, without
those affected individuals having to continue with their appeal.
In 2013, the courts ruled that the Jobseeker’s Allowance
(Employment, Skills and Enterprise Schemes) Regulations 2011 that
underpinned a range of programmes of support to help people into
work did not describe the individual schemes in enough detail,
and that our referral letters did not say enough about the
activities required. The 2013 Act reinstated the original policy
intent of these Regulations. This ensured that job seekers who
had failed to take all reasonable steps to increase their chances
of finding work between 2011 and 2013 did not unfairly obtain
advantage over claimants who complied with the benefit
conditionality requirements.
The Court of Appeal has since ruled that the 2013 Act is
effective.
The 2013 Act did not prevent people from appealing if they felt
they had a good reason for not participating in one of the
employment schemes, but it meant their appeal would be
unsuccessful if it related to their compliance with the 2011
Regulations or the referral notification letters they received.
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Act has prevented
claimants who had an appeal for failing to comply with the 2011
Regulations still in the Tribunal system on 26 March 2013 from
having a fair hearing. For this small, specific group, the Court
found that the Act is incompatible with Article 6 of the European
Convention on Human Rights. The proposed draft Remedial Order
addresses the Court of Appeal’s decision but does not affect the
continuing validity of the 2013 Act.
I am using the non-urgent Remedial Order process to allow time
for Parliamentary scrutiny. The next 60 sitting days, are a
consultation period for members of both Houses to send me any
views. The Order will also be scrutinised by the Joint Committee
on Human Rights, and they will write a report. I will consider
all representations I receive on the proposed draft Order, and
the Committee’s report. Once I have done so, I will revert to
both Houses with a draft of the Remedial Order for consideration
for a further 60 days.
