2
SUPPLEMENTARY BENEFITS HANDBOOK
receive benefit (e.g. on return to work) or is required to register for employment he will on any further claim during which he is not required to register for employment qualify immediately for the long-term scale if the break is 13 weeks or less: if the break is between 14 and 52 weeks he will qualify for the long-term scale after a further 13 weeks: but if the break is of more than 1 year he will have to complete a further 2-year qualifying period.
HOUSEHOLD STATUS
42. It will be seen from the table that the scale rate appropriate to a claimant depends upon whether he is to be regarded as a householder or non-householder. The Act does not define the term "householder', but normally the person who is responsible for rent (or who owns the house in the case of an owner-occupier) and other household expenses is regarded as the householder, irrespective of his age. A person who does not fulfil the conditions for being treated as a householder and who cannot be regarded as a boarder (paragraph 119) is entitled to the appropriate non- householder scale rate; the most common circumstance of this kind is where a claimant is living as a member of a relative's household. When a non-householder claimant aged under 18 has to provide for a dependent child or children, the Commission make a special addition to bring the rate of requirements up to the full amount for a non-householder to enable family commitments to be met. Where the claimant is a joint tenant or owner with another person in the same household he is assessed on the basis of the non-householder scale but receives a special addition based on his share of the margin between the householder and non- householder scale rates. Since there is only one rate for married couples, their household status is only relevant to the amount to be allowed for rent (paragraph 45).
WHAT THe scale RATES COVER
43. The scale rates are regarded by the Commission as covering all normal needs which can be foreseen, including food, fuel and light, the normal repair and replacement of clothing, household sundries (but not major items of bedding and furnishing) and provision for amenities such as newspapers, entertainments and television licences. It is not possible to say how much of the scale rates is appropriate to any one item since this will depend both on the circumstances of the person, e.g. a young person may need to spend more on food and an older person more on fuel, and on his personal preferences, e.g. a person may prefer to spend less on entertainments in order to enjoy a higher standard of household