Restart for JSA claimants

The Jobcentre Plus work coach will issue a notification to the Potential Participant confirming that participation on the Restart Scheme is mandatory.

encourage your Participant to update their Universal Credit journal with any changes

5.14. Where a Participant is successful in gaining employment, but the hours worked do not result in the Participant signing off JSA (IB), then you will need to continue to deliver the full Restart Scheme support offer as set out in your contract, working with your Participant until their completion of the Restart Scheme or a job outcome is achieved. Participation remains mandatory until you receive a notification to say that the Participant is no longer in receipt of JSA (IB).

accumulates earnings that are equal to or exceed the equivalent of someone working for 16 hours per week for 26 weeks, earning the National Living Wage (NLW) (earnings threshold).

In all cases, the Jobcentre Plus work coach will have made the claimant aware that participation in the Restart Scheme is mandatory.

Employment) Regulations 2013(3) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 3 (schemes for assisting persons to obtain employment)—

(a)omit paragraph (;

(b)after paragraph (8C) insert—

“(8D) The Restart Scheme is a scheme which provides support for a period of up to 12 months for claimants who have been unemployed for 9 months or more and reside in England and Wales.”

These Regulations amend the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Schemes for Assisting Persons to Obtain Employment) Regulations 2013 (“the 2013 Regulations”). Regulation 2(2)(a) removes the Work Programme from Regulation 3 of the 2013 Regulations as this scheme no longer operates.

Regulation 2(2)(b) prescribes the Restart Scheme for the purposes of Section 17A of the Jobseekers Act 1995 which grants the power to impose on claimants in certain circumstances a requirement to participate in schemes that are designed to assist them to obtain employment. The Restart Scheme is for claimants who reside in England and Wales.

This means that persons claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) who are selected under regulation 4 of the 2013 Regulations, which enables the selection of claimants for participation in a scheme, are required to participate in the Restart Scheme. By virtue of section 19A Jobseekers Act 1995 if a claimant fails without good reason to comply with such a requirement is liable to a benefit sanction i.e. the reduction or loss of JSA for a period of several weeks.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.

D.Appleby wrote:The legislation relevant to the Restart Scheme for JSA(IB) claimants came into force on 14th March!    

I missed that.

The Decision Makers' guide has not be updated.

Underpinning managed migration is our commitment to transitional financial protection to ensure that eligible households we move to UC do not have a lower award on UC at the point we move them if their UC entitlement is lower than their entitlement on legacy benefits.

Of the 2.6 million households remaining on legacy benefits in April 2022, should they choose to claim UC today, we estimate around 1.4 million (55%) would have a higher entitlement on UC, 300,000 would see no change and approximately 900,000 households (35%) would have a lower entitlement.

It is important to remember that once a new claim to UC is made, households cannot go back to their previous benefits. If an individual’s circumstances would mean their Universal Credit payments would be less than what they currently receive in benefits, they should wait to be moved by DWP. This is because transitional protection is only available through managed migration.

3.12. Following the completion of the Initial Face to Face Meeting you must record the date of the meeting in the PRaP system, as the Start Date on the Restart Scheme. You must ensure that the start date is recorded accurately as the earnings interest data marker is set based upon this date. Please note, mistakes cannot be rectified by the PRaP support team on the PRaP system.

17.16. An employed outcome payment will be automatically paid to you when, within 547 calendar days from a Participant’s start date on the Restart Scheme (the qualifying period):
1. the Participant starts employed work, and
2. accumulates earnings that are equal to or exceed the equivalent of someone working for 16 hours per week for 26 weeks, earning the National Living Wage (NLW) (earnings threshold).

Regulation 61 of the UC Regulations 2013, as amended, sets out how RTI information is used in UC. Regulation 61 was substantially amended in 2014 (SI 2888/2014) and again in 2020 (SI 1138/2020).

Where the employer is a ‘real time information employer’, the UC regulations direct DWP to use RTI data, received from HMRC, about a claimant’s employed earnings to adjust UC awards for each assessment period. In other words, the RTI earnings data takes precedence over any earnings information reported by the claimant in this situation.

Where the employer is not a RTI employer, the claimant must provide earnings information to DWP directly. Note that if the employer is a RTI employer, but no RTI earnings information is received by DWP in a particular assessment period, earnings are treated as nil initially. In such a case it is not clear whether DWP will ask the claimant to declare their earnings or whether any of the provisions below might apply.  

Data is transferred from HMRC to DWP 4 times each day (around 3am the first time and 9pm the last time). The system essentially checks to see if any new RTI submissions for UC claimants have arrived with that day as the ‘payment date’ (in box 43 of the FPS submission – this may be the actual payment date or the contractual pay date, depending on how the FPS has been completed). Any late RTI submissions will also be sent over (those where the date in box 43 has already gone by).

DWP have a back office team, the RTI Dispute team, who look into discrepancies and problems with the earnings information. This team also have access to liaise with HMRC via the JMET (Jointly Managed Engagement Team) if the case requires investigation that is more detailed. This escalation route is outside the appeals process, although, in practice, it may be advisable for the claimant to ask DWP to make a formal decision in order for a mandatory reconsideration to be submitted at the same time as asking for their case to be escalated by DWP.

mandy tori wrote:it appears to me that with restart the main objective for dwp seems to be referring legacy jsa to jump through hoops to get the claim closed thus forcing migrating to UC.

maybe the 3 month migration period the job centre threatens "is coming soon" is a bluff and their payout is migrating those whom remain resistant to volunteering to switch..

(3) A requirement to participate in the Scheme ceases to apply to a claimant if—
(a) the Secretary of State gives the claimant notice in writing that the claimant is no longer required to participate in the Scheme; or
(b) the claimant’s award of jobseeker’s allowance terminates,
whichever is earlier.

3.12. Following the completion of the Initial Face to Face Meeting you must record the date of the meeting in the PRaP system, as the Start Date on the Restart Scheme. You must ensure that the start date is recorded accurately as the earnings interest data marker is set based upon this date. Please note, mistakes cannot be rectified by the PRaP support team on the PRaP system.

3.17. If you fail to register a start this will mean that Real Time Earnings (RTE) tracking will not start promptly and this may affect the ability to receive any resulting payments.

8.10. All activities your Participant undertakes during their time on the Restart Scheme must help them prepare for or move into work – this applies to activities you agree your Participant will complete on a voluntary basis and those you mandate them to undertake.

8.11. DWP does not provide a prescriptive list of activities. You have the freedom to determine the activity you require your Participant to undertake, provided it has the clear aim of helping them prepare for or move into work.

8.35. The JSA MAN is the notification you must issue to a Participant each time you mandate them to undertake an activity. When mandating a Participant to undertake an activity you must ensure that the correct MAN template is used. For JSA (IB) Participants you must ensure that you use the JSA MAN. To clarify whether a Participant is a JSA (IB) claimant please check the PRaP Purchase Order Number; it will start with 10 for records in respect of JSA (IB) claimants.

8.36. It must only contain details of one mandatory requirement – if you are considering mandating to more than one activity you must issue a separate JSA MAN for each one.

8.37. The JSA MAN must contain the following information:
· the specific action that the Participant is required to undertake to meet the requirement
· when or by when they must undertake it
· the location of the activity
· what evidence they must supply to demonstrate completion, if any
· a contact name and number of activity provider
· the compliance condition they must undertake if they fail to comply and a sanction is subsequently imposed – see paragraph 8.48 for further information

8.38. The JSA MAN is a template provided by DWP and designed to satisfy the legal requirements when mandating to an activity. It is intended to provide the Participant with written notification of the mandatory requirement you set, including details of how they complete it. You must always use the JSA MAN provided by DWP and not create any other versions. Aside from the sections available to you to input specific details of the activity, you must not amend any content.

8.40. You can issue the JSA MAN to your Participant face to face or by post. When choosing between these two methods you must take into account any known advanced support needs or challenges.

8.41. You must ensure the time between issuing of the JSA MAN and the date of the mandatory activity is reasonable. This may include additional time to enable your Participant to be able to attend, for example replacement care.

8.42. Where you choose to issue the JSA MAN by post, you must consider timing between posting and your Participant receiving the notification. To inform your timeframe when posting, for the purposes of the Restart Scheme the JSA MAN is taken to have been received on the second working day after posting.
Please Note: Working day is any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or Public Holiday in England and Wales.

8.43. It is not a requirement to use registered post to ensure delivery, but you may wish to consider this to provide assurance that it has been delivered to your Participant.

8.44. There are no other permissible methods of issuing the JSA MAN to your Participant. However, you may wish to use additional methods to communicate with your Participant and remind them of the mandatory requirement, for example email, SMS.

8.45. You may wish to provide additional information with the JSA MAN to support your Participant’s understanding and maximise engagement, for example a map outlining the location of the activity.

8.46. You must record the mandatory activity in your Participant’s action plan along with all other activities and steps they are expected to carry out.

8.47. You must keep a copy of each JSA MAN you issue, as you may be asked to provide it in the event your Participant is sanctioned and appeals.

Considering re-arranging a mandatory activity
8.49. Your Participant may contact you in between the date you have set the mandatory activity and the date they are required to complete it, to request it is rearranged for another date. You have the discretion to agree whether to rearrange the activity or whether they are still required to complete it.

8.50. Where you choose to agree to a rearrangement, there is no longer a mandatory requirement for your Participant to undertake the activity as notified to them on the JSA MAN, and you are not required to raise a compliance doubt.

8.51. If you agree to rearrange the activity and you still wish to mandate your Participant to undertake it, you must issue another JSA MAN with the revised details and follow the earlier guidance in this chapter. You must also update your Participant’s action plan to reflect the change to the activity set.

8.52. You may choose not to agree to a rearrangement, which will mean your Participant is still required to undertake the activity. If they subsequently fail to undertake the activity you must raise a compliance doubt. Further information regarding raising a compliance doubt can be found in Restart Scheme Provider Guidance Chapter 9B – Raising a compliance doubt.

8.53. To support you when considering whether to rearrange a mandatory activity, you may wish to review their engagement up to this point. For example, repeated failure to undertake activity or repeated requests to rearrange may lead to you decide you will not agree to rearrange a mandatory activity.

8.54. You may also request evidence to support the reasons for the request to rearrange the mandatory activity, although this is not a requirement.

2.75. Where you mandate a Potential Participant to attend the initial meeting and they failed to attend, you must notify the Department by raising a compliance doubt using form JSA603 and sending to: dundee.restartjsaibdoubtteam@*DWP.GOV.UK*

If we decide you do not have a good reason for failing to attend a meeting you were mandated to attend, or failing to complete an activity you were mandated to complete your Jobseeker's Allowance will stop.

mandy tori wrote:
using their portal is heavily pushed, ask them if using it is mandatory, i was informed it wasn't
that appears to be their version of uc's journal (not appears to be, i know it is) which they create your account on referral and email you the link to login, you cant unclick once you have clicked so keep that in mind

Pintel wrote:
What is on their version of the UC journal, if you don't mind me asking . Like the 'Todo list', no doubt has a secret data transfer link to the JCP bunker, of all that is typed in...

mandy tori wrote:they create an account with your email and spam links via email to get your created id to click their links.