Experimental ADM in HTML

The guidance in this chapter applies to UC and is to help the DM determine
regulated SF payments under the Act (1) which are made for maternity expenses.
Note: UC guidance relating to SFFP can be found within ADM Chapter L3. UC
guidance relating to CWP can be found within ADM Chapter L4.

1 SS CB Act 92, s 138(1)(a) & (2)

L2002

A DM decides any claim for a SSMG. These decisions have the same right of
appeal as other DM decisions (1).
1 SS Act 1998, s 12

L2003 Effect of capital

Capital has no effect on claims for SSMGs (1).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Amdt Regs 01, reg 2(3)

[L2004-L2009]

Sure start maternity grants

L2010 Conditions of entitlement « L2059

The first condition (1) is that the claimant or partner must, in respect of the date of
claim for a SSMG, have been awarded UC.
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5(2)(g)

L2011

L2012 « L2016

The second condition (1) is that
1. the claimant or, if the claimant is a member of a family, one of the family,
must at the date of claim
1.1 be pregnant or
1.2 have given birth to a child (including a child who is still-born after 24
weeks of pregnancy)2 or
2. the child's parents are not partners at the date of claim and the claimant is
2.1 the parent (but not the mother) of the child (who does not exceed the
age of 12 months at the date of claim) or is responsible for that parent (3)
and
2.2 responsible for the child (4) or
3. the claimant or partner is responsible for a child under the age of 12 months
at the date of claim and the claimant or the claimant's partner has
3.1 been granted a qualifying order (5) or
3.2 been appointed the guardian of the child (6) or
3.3 a child that has been placed for adoption with them by an adoption
7
agency or
3.4 adopted a child under specified legislation (8).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5(3); 2 reg 5(3)(a); 3 reg 5(3)(b)(i); 4 reg 5(3)(b)(ii); 5 reg 5(3)(c);
6 reg 5(3)(d); 7 reg 5(3)(e); 8 reg 5(3)(f), Adoption and Children Act 2002, s 66(1)(c) to (e)

L2013

L2014

The third condition (1) is that the claimant or partner has received advice from a health
professional on
1. health and welfare matters relating to the child (but this does not apply where
the claim is made after the birth of a still born child)2 and
2. matters relating to maternal health where the claim is made before the child is
born (3).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5(4); 2 reg 5(4)(a); 3 reg 5(4)(b)

L2015

L2016 « L2059

The fourth condition (1) is that the claim is made within the prescribed time for claiming
a SSMG (See L2123).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5(5)

Example

Julie is looking after her nephew Robert as her sister Jennifer has serious health
problems and is unable to care for him. Julie is receiving UC and has obtained a
residence order under the Adoption and Children Act, for Robert. She is in receipt of
CHB for her nephew. Julie applies for a SSMG when Robert is eight months old, a
month after her residence order was granted. The DM decides that the residence
order should be treated as an adoption as referred to in L2012 3.4 and awards a
SSMG (1) .
1 R(IS) 6/06

L2017

L2029

Definitions

L2030 Adoption agency

Adoption agency means a body whose functions consist of or include making
arrangements for the adoption of children (1) .
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1) & 3(1A); Adoption and Children Act 2002, s 2;
Adoption and Children Scotland Act 2007, s 119(1)

L2031

L2032 Adoption order

Adoption order is an order made by the court giving parental responsibility for a
child to the adopters or adopter (1) .
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1) & 3(1A); Adoption and Children Act 2002 s 46;
Adoption and Children Scotland Act 2007, s 119(1) & s 28(1)

L2033

L2034 Meaning of C

C means the child or still-born child in respect of whom a SSMG is claimed (1) .
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5A(1)(a)

L2035

L2036 Couple

Couple
means (1)
1. two people who are married to, or civil partners of, each other and are
members of the same household or
2. two people who are not married to, or civil partners of, each other but are
living together as a married couple.
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1)

L2037

L2038 Family

The definition of family is (1)
1. a couple
or
2. a single
person
or
3. except where the claimant is in receipt of UC, people living in the same
household who are members of a polygamous marriage
together with any dependent children who are members of the same household and
for whom the single person or at least one of the couple or member of the
polygamous marriage is responsible.
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1)

L2039

L2040 Guardian

Guardian means a person appointed as a guardian or special guardian under
specified legislation (1).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1); Children Act 1989, s 5 & s 14A

L2041

L2042 Health professional

Health
professional (1) means
1. a registered medical practitioner or
2. a registered nurse or registered midwife.
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1)

L2043

L2044 Parental order

Parental order means an order by a court under specified legislation (1) which treats a
child as a child of the parties in law where one of the parties provided either sperm
cells or egg cells.
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1); Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, s 30;
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, s 54

L2045

L2046 Partner

A
partner (1) is
1. the other member of a couple or
2. where the person is married polygamously to two or more members in the
household, any such member, except where the claimant is in receipt of UC.
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1)

L2047

L2048 Placed for adoption

Placed for adoption means a child placed for adoption as defined in specified
legislation (1).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1) & 3(1A); Adoption and Children Act 2002, s 18

L2049

L2050 Qualifying order

A qualifying order is (1)
1. an adoption order or
2. a parental order or
3. a residence order.
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1) & reg 3A(6)

L2051

L2052 Residence order

Residence order means an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the
person with whom a child is to live (1).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1) & 3(1A); Children Act 1989, s 8 & s 10, Children (Scotland) Act 1995, s 11(2)(c)

L2053

L2054 Meaning of "responsible for"

A person is to be treated as responsible for
1. a child if the person is receiving CHB for the child (1) or
2. a child where CHB is not in payment if they are the person who the child
normally lives with (2) or
3. both children where a person is receiving CHB for a child who is in receipt of
CHB for another child (3).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 4A(2)(a); 2 4A(2)(b); 3 reg 4A(3)

L2055

L2056 Not treated as "responsible for"

A person is not to be treated as responsible for a child at the date of claim if the
child is
1. being looked after by a LA under specified legislation (1) (which includes
children in foster care) or
2. being held in custody pending trial or sentencing (2) or
3. in custody serving a sentence imposed by a court (3).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 4A(4)(a); Children Act 1989, s 22 & Children (Scotland) Act 1995, s 93;
2 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 4A(4)(b); 3 reg 4A(4)(b)

L2057

L2058 Meaning of Existing Member of the family

Existing member of the family means
1. where a parent of C is under the age of 20 and a member of the claimant's
family, any member of the claimant's family who is also a child of that parent,
apart from
1.1 C
or
1.2 any other child born as a result of the same pregnancy as C1 or
2. in any other case, any member of the claimant's family apart from
2.1 C
or
2.2 any other child born as a result of the same pregnancy as C or
2.3 any child whose parent is
2.3.a
under the age of 20 and
2.3.b
a member of the claimant's family (2).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5A(1)(b) & 5A(2); 2 reg 5A(1)(b) & 5A(3)

Example

Mary receives UC for herself and her daughter, Diane, aged 17. Diane has a son
James aged 2. Diane receives CHB for James. Diane is now expecting twins. As
Diane is a dependant member of Mary's family who is under the age of 20 and
already has a child under 16, James, a SSMG would not ordinarily be payable.
However as Diane is expecting twins, one SSMG is payable.

L2059 Equivalent provisions

Reference
1. to the entitlement conditions for a SSMG (see L2010 to L2016) and
2. the adoption of children under specified legislation (1)
also includes any analogous provision of equivalent effect in Scotland, Northern
Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man (2).
Note:
If a claim is made and it is not clear if it is made under an analogous order,
refer the case to DMA Leeds for advice.
1 Children Act 1989, s 5, 8, 10, & 14A; Adoption and Children Act 2002, s 2, 18, 46 & 66;
2 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(1A)

L2060 Polygamy

Under UC, polygamous marriages are not recognised when calculating entitlement
to a SSMG. Second and subsequent wives have to make separate claims to UC as
either single people or lone parents where children are involved.

L2061

Except where the claimant is in receipt of UC, a person is treated as a member of a
polygamous marriage, where during the subsistence of that marriage
1. a party to it, is married to more than one person and
2. the ceremony took place under the law of a country which permits polygamy (1).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3(4)(b)

Example

Abass has a polygamous marriage with his two wives, Edosewele and Shanice.
Abass receives UC for himself and his first wife, Edosewele. Abass' second wife,
Shanice, receives UC as a single person. Edosewele has just given birth and as
there are no other children under the age of 16 in Abass' family, a SSMG is payable
for the baby. Also Shanice is within 11 weeks of expecting the birth of her baby, and
as she is claiming UC as a single person and has no other children under the age of
16 within her family, a SSMG would be payable in respect of her child.

[L2062-L2090]

L2091 Prevention of award « L2093

A SSMG cannot be awarded, if at the date of claim, there is any existing member of
the claimant's family, apart from C, who is under the age of 16, except in the case of
multiple births (1).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5A(4)

Example

Patrice and her current partner, Gordon, are in receipt of UC. Patrice has given birth
to baby Noah, and now claims a SSMG. Patrice already has another child, Adam
(who is under the age of 16) living with her and Gordon on a permanent basis.
However Patrice's ex-partner, Frank, claims and receives CHB for Adam but
regularly pays this money over to Patrice. As CHB is in payment for Adam and it is
Frank who claims and receives the CHB, Frank is treated as the responsible person
for Adam. As there is no other existing member of her family, apart from baby Noah,
who is under the age of 16 for whom she is responsible, Patrice would not be
prevented from receiving an award of SSMG.

L2092

L2093 Subsequent Multiple births

A further exception to L2091 has been introduced. This provides for payment of a
SSMG in circumstances where there is already a child or children under the age of
16 in the family, but there has been a subsequent multiple birth. The number of
SSMGs to be awarded when there is a multiple birth is set out in L2095 - L2097.

L2094

L2095 Award of SSMG « L2093

Where at the date of claim, no existing member of the family is under the age of 16,
a SSMG is to be awarded for each child where C is one of two or more children who is
1. born or still-born as a result of the same pregnancy or
2. expected to be born as a result of the same pregnancy (1).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5A(5) & reg 5A(6)

Example

Marjorie claims UC. She has a dependent 18 year old daughter, Edwina, who is
expecting her first child. Marjorie has no other children. However she is now
expecting twins herself. Marjorie can claim a SSMG for each of her expected
children. However, a SSMG will also be payable for Edwina's child, Marjorie's
grandchild. Therefore three SSMGs will be payable in total. This is because Marjorie
and Edwina are treated as separate family units for the purpose of determining the
number of SSMGs payable.

L2096

Where at the date of claim, any existing member of the family is under the age of
16, then where each of those existing members of the family under the age of 16
was born as a result of separate pregnancies, a SSMG is to be awarded for all but
one of the children born or expected to be born as a result of the multiple birth (1).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5A(7)(a)

Example

Mohinder and Jaswinder are in receipt of UC. There are 2 children in the family,
Amarjit (6 years old) and Gurdeep (3 years old). Jaswinder has recently had twins
and now claims a SSMG. As Amarjit and Gurdeep were born as a result of separate
pregnancies, one SSMG is payable.

L2097 « L2093

Where at the date of claim any existing member of the family is under the age of 16,
then where two or more of those existing members of the family under the age of 16
were born as a result of a single pregnancy, the number of SSMGs to be awarded in
respect of children born or expected to be born as a result of the multiple birth is
1. the number of children born or expected to be born as a result of the multiple
birth, minus
2. the maximum number of existing members of the family born as a result of a
single pregnancy (2).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5A(7)(b)

Example

Alan and Beatrice are in receipt of UC. They have 4 year old twins (Charlie and
Daniel) and a 2 year old (Edward). It has been confirmed that Beatrice is now
expecting triplets. As she is now within 11 weeks of her expected date of
confinement, Beatrice has made a claim for a SSMG. As three children are
expected to be born as a result of this multiple birth and there are two children
(Charlie and Daniel) who are existing members of the claimant's family born as a
result of a previous single pregnancy, one SSMG is payable.

L2098

L2122

L2123 Prescribed time for claiming « L2016

An advance claim for a maternity payment can be made up to three months before
the normal time for claiming begins (1). The normal time for claiming is the period beginning
1. eleven weeks before the first day of the EWC and ending three months after
the ADC (2) or
2. with the date on which the claimant becomes responsible for the child and
ending 3 months after that date (3) or
3. with the date on which a qualifying order is made and ending 3 months after
that date (4) or
4. with the date on which the guardianship takes effect and ending 3 months
after that date (5) or
5. with the date on which the child is placed with the claimant or the claimant's
partner for adoption and ending 3 months after that date (6) or
6. with the date on which the adoption (7)
6.1 takes effect in respect of an adoption under prescribed legislation (8) or
6.2 is recognised under prescribed legislation (9) and ending 3 months after
that date.
1 SS (C&P) Regs, reg 13(1); 2 reg 19(1), Sch 4(8) & SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5(3)(a); 3 reg 5(3)(b);
4 reg 5(3)(c); 5 reg 5(3)(d); 6 Reg 5(3)(e); 7 Reg 5(3)(f);
8 Adoption and Children Act 2002, s 66(1)(c), (d) & (e); 9 s 66(1)(e)

L2124

The DM should
1. decide whether a claim which has been made too early can be accepted as
an advance claim and
2. if the claim is not accepted as an advance claim, disallow it because it has
been made outside the normal time limits.

L2125

The DM should accept that an advance claim has been made where the evidence
shows that the conditions for entitlement will be satisfied for maternity payments on
the first day of the eleventh week before the EWC, benefit will be paid on that day,
subject to all the conditions for entitlement being satisfied (1).
1 SS (C&P) Regs, reg 13(1)(b)

L2126

L2150

L2151 Time limit for claiming UC

See ADM Chapter A2043 et seq for guidance on time limit for claiming UC.

[L2152-L2161]

L2162 Evidence

See ADM Chapter A1 for guidance on what evidence is acceptable.

L2163

L2164 Amount of sure start maternity grant

The amount of a SSMG is £500 and is paid in respect of each child or still-born child
for whom an award can be made (1).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 5(1)

L2165

L2166 Prevention of duplicate payment

The DM should not award a SSMG if a payment has already been made for the
child in question. Exceptions to that rule are met if the conditions in L2167 - L2168
are satisfied (1).

1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3A

L2167 « L2166

The first condition is that
1. the claimant alone or together with another person, has been granted a
qualifying order (1) or
2. at the date of claim the claimant is the parent (but not the mother) of a child
under the age of 12 months and
2.1 responsible for the child and
2.2 the child's parents are not partners (2) or
3. the claimant or the claimant's partner is responsible for a child under the age
of 12 months at the date of claim and the claimant or claimant's partner
3.1 has been appointed the guardian of the child (3) or
3.2 has a child that has been placed for adoption by an adoption agency (4)
or
3.3 has adopted a child under specified legislation (5).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3A(4)(a); 2 reg 3A(4)(b) & reg 5(3)(b); 3 reg 3A(4)(b) & reg 5(3)(d);

4 reg 3A(4)(b) & 5(3)(e); 5 reg 3A(4)(b) & 5(3)(f) & Adoption and Children Act 2002, s 66(1)(c) to (e)

L2168

The second condition is that the claimant
1. has not already received a first grant or
2. was not, at the time the first grant was claimed, a member of the family of a
person to whom the first grant was paid (1).
1 SFMFE (Gen) Regs, reg 3A(5)

Chapter L2: Universal Credit - Social Fund - Sure Start Maternity Grants

Chapter L2: Universal Credit - Social Fund - Sure Start Maternity Grants

L2001 Introduction

L2002

L2003 Effect of capital

[L2004-L2009]

L2010 Conditions of entitlement « L2059

L2011

L2012 « L2016

L2013

L2014

L2015

L2016 « L2059

Example

L2017

L2029

L2030 Adoption agency

L2031

L2032 Adoption order

L2033

L2034 Meaning of C

L2035

L2036 Couple

L2037

L2038 Family

L2039

L2040 Guardian

L2041

L2042 Health professional

L2043

L2044 Parental order

L2045

L2046 Partner

L2047

L2048 Placed for adoption

L2049

L2050 Qualifying order

L2051

L2052 Residence order

L2053

L2054 Meaning of "responsible for"

L2055

L2056 Not treated as "responsible for"

L2057

L2058 Meaning of Existing Member of the family

Example

L2059 Equivalent provisions

L2060 Polygamy

L2061

Example

[L2062-L2090]

L2091 Prevention of award « L2093

Example

L2092

L2093 Subsequent Multiple births

L2094

L2095 Award of SSMG « L2093

Example

L2096

Example

L2097 « L2093

Example

L2098

L2122

L2123 Prescribed time for claiming « L2016

L2124

L2125

L2126

L2150

L2151 Time limit for claiming UC

[L2152-L2161]

L2162 Evidence

L2163

L2164 Amount of sure start maternity grant

L2165

L2166 Prevention of duplicate payment

L2167 « L2166

L2168

[L2169-L2169]