On this page

Overview

Young care-experienced people may struggle to make sense of the complexities of the benefit system and how it interacts with other support which may be available – for example, support from the local authority or student funding.

16 and 17 year ‘care leavers’

Many 16 and 17-year olds who have been ‘looked after away from home’ by the local authority cannot get universal credit. Instead, the local authority which last looked after them is responsible for providing financial and housing support. Local authorities often call this help ‘after-care’, ‘through-care services’ or ‘leaving care services’. These special rules also affect 16 and 17 year olds who are in ‘continuing care’.

Continuing care

‘Continuing Care’ is an approach introduced by the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. It describes a duty on local authorities to provide young people who are looked after and accommodated at or beyond their 16th birthday, and whose final placement is ‘away from home’, with the same accommodation and other assistance they received before they stopped being looked after. The aim of continuing care is to provide young people with the option of a more gradual and better supported transition out of care.

The duty to provide continuing care is at section 26A of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. 

Not all young people who are looked after away from home at or beyond their 16th birthday are eligible for continuing care – for example, if you are in secure accommodation, you are not eligible. For more information see the Scottish government guidance on continuing care.

Which benefits are affected?

Universal credit is the main benefit affected by the special rules for care leavers. Housing benefit is also affected, but this is not usually relevant because of the roll-out of universal credit. Other benefits like adult disability payment, personal independence payment and new-style employment and support allowance are not affected.

Universal credit and care leavers aged 16 and 17

Most care leavers aged 16 and 17 are not able to claim UC. For UC, a young person counts as a care leaver if:

  • they were looked after by the local authority at their 16th birthday or after that date;
  • they were looked after away from home by the local authority for at least three months since the age of 14. The three months don’t have to be a continuous period;
  • they are no longer looked after by the local authority.

A young person aged 16 or 17 who is in a continuing care arrangement and who was looked after and accommodated by the local authority for at least three months since the age of 14 is also excluded, as is a young person aged 16 or 17 who is still looked after by the local authority.

Instead of the young person being able to claim UC, the local authority which last looked after them is responsible for providing financial support and accommodation. If you need more advice or information about the local authority’s duties and responsibilities see below for details of organisations that can help.

The amount of local authority financial support to care leavers aged 16 and 17 should be at least as much as the universal credit they would receive if they were able to claim.

Exceptions

As with most benefit rules, there are some exceptions. Even if the young person comes within the definition of a care leaver set out above, including if they are in continuing care or still looked after, they are not excluded from UC if they:

  • are responsible for a child; or
  • are a member of a couple and their partner is responsible for a child; or
  • have limited capability for work or are waiting for an assessment to establish whether they have limited capability for work.

Note: even if one of these exceptions applies, the young person still cannot get help with rent in their UC.

Example

Rob is aged 17. When he was 14 he started being looked after away from home. He lived with foster carers. This continued until a few months after his 16th birthday, when he stopped being ’looked after’ and moved into supported accommodation run by a voluntary organisation. Rob is a care leaver who cannot get universal credit.

Example

Mel is aged 17. She was looked after away from home since the age of 12 until two months after her 16th birthday. She is in continuing care’ and lives with the foster carers who have looked after her for several years. She is a lone parent with a baby.

Although Mel is in a very similar situation to Rob, because she has a dependent child she is not excluded from getting universal credit (although she will still not get UC for rent while she is under 18).

Care-experienced bursary

Care-experienced young people who are full-time students may be entitled to a ‘care-experienced bursary’. This applies to both non-advanced courses (for example, National Qualification) and advanced courses (for example, a degree course). A student may be eligible for the bursary if they were ever looked after by a local authority, even for a short period. The bursary is £225 a week for students on non-advanced courses and £9,000 per academic year for students in advanced education. For more details see the Scottish government information on the care-experienced bursary.

For many care-experienced young people, getting the care-experienced bursary means that they are not entitled to universal credit – even those who are aged 18 or over and are not excluded under the rules described above. This is because, after a disregard of £110 per month, the care-experienced bursary counts as income for UC and for many students, the income from the bursary will exceed their UC level. However, it is important to note that this is not always the case. For example, a care-experienced student with dependent children may still be entitled to some UC. Also, some care-experienced students may be able to claim UC during the summer vacation when they do not have student funding.

For more information about students and benefits see benefits for care-experienced students.

Further information and advice

Advice and information on the local authority’s responsibilities

If you need more advice or information on the local authority’s duties and responsibilities regarding care-experienced young people or continuing care, contact one of the following organisations:

Advice and information from CPAG