Citation, commencement and interpretation

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Universal Credit (Coronavirus) (Restoration of the Minimum Income Floor) Regulations 2021 and come into force on 31st July 2021.

(2) In these Regulations—

(a) “the Universal Credit Regulations” means the Universal Credit Regulations 2013( 3 );

(b) “the Coronavirus Further Measures Regulations” means the Social Security (Coronavirus) (Further Measures) Regulations 2020( 4 ),

and other words and expressions in these Regulations have the same meaning as in regulation 2 of the Coronavirus Further Measures Regulations.

Restoration of the minimum income floor

2. —(1)Regulation 2 (universal credit — minimum income floor) of the Coronavirus Further Measures Regulations is, apart from sub-paragraphs (1)(c) and (d), to continue to have effect up to and including 31st July 2022( 5 ), subject to the following provisions.

(2) Where the MIF easement is being applied to a claimant on the coming into force of these Regulations, the Secretary of State must, subject to paragraph (3), cease to apply that easement from the assessment period( 6 ) immediately after the assessment period in which the following conditions are met—

(a) the Secretary of State has determined that the claimant continues to be in gainful self-employment; and

(b) if the claimant was in a start-up period on 13th March 2020( 7 ), the same number of complete months of that period that remained on that date have elapsed since the determination in sub-paragraph (a).

(3) The Secretary of State may continue to apply the MIF easement after the assessment period in which the conditions mentioned in paragraph (2) are met, but only if it appears that the trade, profession or vocation carried on by the claimant remains adversely affected by the outbreak of coronavirus disease, and not for more than two consecutive assessment periods on a single occasion and not for more than six assessment periods in total.

(4) The Secretary of State may, if satisfied that economic conditions have sufficiently improved, determine that the MIF easement is no longer to apply to any claimant.

(5) The application of the MIF easement for a specific period in relation to a particular claimant by virtue of paragraph (2)(b) or (3) is not to be affected by the expiry of this regulation or by a determination of the Secretary of State under paragraph (4).

(6) References in this regulation to the MIF easement are to the individual threshold or the couple threshold in regulation 62 (minimum income floor) of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 being treated by the Secretary of State as if it were a lesser amount (including zero) in accordance with regulation 2(1)(a) of the Coronavirus Further Measures Regulations.