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your own business, followed by a period of 6 months "Test
trading", when you are guaranteed to get an income, at least as
much as your benefit.
Extra help for other people
❚ New Deal Programmes. There are New Deals for unemployed people
aged 25 to 49, and partners of unemployed people. The JobCentre
can help with advice about applying for jobs, interview, job search
skills, work-related training and help with fares to work. If you are
aged 25-49:
❚ Subsidised Employment. The JobCentre can offer employers £75 a
week to take you on if they can’t find you an unsubsidised job.
❚ Jobseeker’s Grant. If you are 25 or over, and have been unemployed
for 18 months or more you may be able to get a discretionary
payment to pay for the costs of looking for work, for example clothes
for interviews.
❚ Employment Zones. Most of Newham, except for Manor Park, Little
Ilford, Upton Park and parts of East Ham, has an alternative scheme
to the New Deal for people aged 25-49 which is run by Reed
Employment. Contact them for advice and information.
Extra help for Childminders
❚ Income Support. You can get Income Support even if you work 16
hours or more a week. Only one third of your childminder earnings,
after tax and National Insurance, will count against your entitlement to
Income Support. As well as this another £5 for single people, £10 for
couples and £20 for lone parents will be ignored out of what is left.
❚ Working Families’ and Disabled Person's Tax Credits. You may be
better off by claiming one of these Tax Credits and it is up to you to
claim. Your JobCentre or an advice agency can help you calculate
which is the right benefit for you.
❚ Childminder Start up Grants. This is a grant of up to £300, to help
with the costs of setting up a new childminding business. Contact
your local Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership
(EYDCP) for details of this, and other help for childminders.
❚ Help and Advice. Phone the Childcare helplines or the Newham Early
Years Unit (see below).
Help and advice. Apart from your local JobCentre, there are various
local agencies such as the Citizens Advice Bureau. See the useful
numbers at the end of this leaflet, and the "Where to go for Benefits
Advice" leaflet and other leaflets in the "How to" series, which are
available from the Town Hall, Local Service Centres, libraries and other
Council offices.
Benefits Agency (Canning Town)
197 Freemasons Road
London E16 3PG
Tel: 020 7599 8899
Benefits Agency (Plaistow)
760 Barking Road
London E13 3PH
Tel: 020 8532 3000
Benefits Agency (Stratford)
Jubilee House,
2 Farthingale Walk,
London E15 1AN
Tel: 020 8532 3000
Children's Information
Development Service
Stratford Advice Arcade
107 – 109 The Grove
London E15 1HP
Tel: 0800 074 1017
Citizens Advice Bureau
Stratford Advice Arcade
107-109 The Grove
London E15 1HP
Tel: 020 8536 1710
Disabled Person’s Tax Credit
Helpline: 0845 605 5858
Early Years Unit
Unit 12 Stratford Office Village
London E15
Tel: 020 8430 6814 or
020 8430 4954
East London Small Business
Centre Assist Programme
88-94 Wentworth Street
London E1 7FA
Tel: 020 7377 8821
Futures Newham Careers Service
Unit 5-6, Broadway Chambers
The Broadway, London E15 4QP
Tel: 020 8227 1500
The Into Work Centre
St Marks Community Centre
Tollgate Road
Beckton, London E6
Tel: 020 7474 8791
JobCentre (East Ham) for
surnames A-K
Heron House
Heigham Road
London E6 2JR
Tel: 020 8210 5600
JobCentre (East Ham) for
surnames L-Z
473 Barking Road
London E6 2LL
Tel: 020 8210 5700
JobCentre (Plaistow)
3-9 Balaam Street
London E13 8EB
Tel: 020 7506 4200
JobCentre (Stratford)
1 Tramway Avenue
London E15 4PN
Tel: 020 8918 5200
National Childminding Association
Tel: 0800 169 4486
Website: www.ncma.org.uk
National Childcare Recruitment
Helpline
Tel: 0800 996 600
Newham Rights Law Centre
285 Romford Road
London E7 9HJ
Tel: 020 8555 3331
Reed Employment
Station House
London E15 1AP
Tel: 020 8555 0313
The Shaw Trust
New Deal for Disabled People
Stratford Advice Arcade
107-109 The Grove
London E15 1HP
Tel: 0800 018 4600
How to be better off
Working Full Time
Working Families' Tax Credit
Helpline: 0845 609 5000
Child Tax Credit
Helpline: 0845 3000 1036
(A guide for
benefits to
help people
work over
16 hours
a week)
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If you would like to work full time but you are not sure if you will
be better off, or you are worried about the difficult time when
you first start working, this guide will help you.
It lists the help that is available to make the transition to full time work.
This means working 16 hours a week or more, in a job that lasts more
than 5 weeks.
Help when you first start work
❚ Jobgrant. If you are 25 or over, and get Income Support, Jobseeker's
Allowance or Incapacity Benefit you can get a payment of £100 to
help start work, provided the job will last over 5 weeks. If you are
getting Jobseeker’s Allowance you need to return your signing on
card and tick the box that says you are starting a job that will last
more than 5 weeks. Other people should contact the Benefits Agency.
It is not available to most Lone Parents who can get extra help in
other ways (see below )
❚ Bonuses for starting work. You may be able to get an extra payment
called the Back to Work Bonus if you work part time, and your benefit
is reduced because of your wages, and then start a full time job. You
may also be able to get a Child Maintenance Bonus if you have been
getting Child Maintenance payments. These could be worth up to
£1,000 to you and your family, and can be paid on top of each other.
You can get claim forms for these bonuses from your JobCentre or
Benefits Agency and you must return them within 12 weeks of
starting work.
Help with your income while you work
❚ Tax Credits. If you work 16 hours a week or more, and get low or
moderate earnings, you may get Working Families’ or Disabled
Person's Tax Credit, which is usually paid with your wages or salary
by the Inland Revenue. How much you get depends on your income
and the size of your family. You can get Working Families’ Tax Credit if
you have a child and you and your partner do not have savings over
£8,000. You can get Disabled Person’s Tax Credit if you are disabled
and you and your partner do not have savings over £16,000. To get a
claim form, phone the Working Families' and Disabled Person’s Tax
Credit Helpline.
❚ Subsidised employment. You may be able to get a short-term top-up
of your earnings, as part of your New Deal Programme. There are
more details later in this guide.
❚ Self-employment. If you live in Newham you may be able to benefit
from the Assist Programme, which offers training and advice, as well
as a £50 bonus, for people on the point of setting up in business. You
should contact the East London Small Business Centre. There is also
help available through the New Deal for people aged 18-24 or over 50.
Help with Housing Costs
❚ Help with Rent and Council Tax. You can continue to get the same
level of Housing and Council Tax Benefits you get now, for up to 4
weeks, provided you tell the Benefits Agency or JobCentre within 4
weeks of starting work. After the 4 weeks you can re-claim Housing
and Council Tax Benefits if your earnings are low.
❚ Help with mortgage interest payments. Can continue for 4 weeks
provided you tell your Benefits Agency or JobCentre when you start
work.
❚ Help if your job ends. If you are getting mortgage interest payments
from Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance now, and you have to
leave your job in less than a year, you can go back to the same level
of help you are getting now, without waiting to qualify.
Help with Childcare
❚ Childcare credit. Working Families’ Tax Credit and Disabled Person's
Tax Credit include an allowance, which will pay 70% of your childcare
costs, up to £135 for one child and £200 for two or more children.
❚ Child Maintenance. All regular child maintenance payments you get
will be ignored for Working Families’ Tax Credit and Disabled Person's
Tax Credit. Irregular maintenance payments are treated as capital.
❚ Children's Tax Credit. This is an extra tax allowance for people with
children who earn less than £42,000 a year. You must claim this
allowance from the Inland Revenue to reduce your income tax
payments. Phone 0845 300 1036 to get a form.
❚ Housing and Council Tax Benefits. Lone Parents, couples who both
work 16 hours or more, and couples with one working partner and
another who is sick, can have some of their childcare costs set off
against their earnings. Housing Benefits ignore up to £94.50 of your
earnings for one child and £140 for more than one child, so you can
pay for childminding. Up to £15 a week of any child maintenance
payments you get are ignored for Housing and Council Tax Benefits.
Extra help for Lone Parents
❚ Income Support Run On. If you have been a lone
parent, getting Income Support or income-based
Jobseeker’s Allowance for the last 6 months, and you
start a job that will last for 5 weeks or more, you can
get the same benefit at the same rate for 2 weeks after
you start work. To get this benefit Run on you need to
tell the Benefits Agency or JobCentre when you are
about to start work.
❚ Extra Benefit If you take part in the New Deal for Lone
Parents, and you agree to do an education or training
course that will help you get a job, you may get a Premium
of £15 a week on top of your benefit. Contact your Lone
Parent Adviser at your JobCentre.
❚ Support and Advice. You can get help and advice about
training, childcare and benefits, as well as help with travel to
job interviews, from the Lone Parent Advisers at your local
JobCentre.
Extra help for people aged over 50
❚ The New Deal. If you have been unemployed for 6 months or
more, you can choose to go on the New Deal. This gives you a
number of options to help you get back into work.
• Employment Credit. You may get £60 a week, tax free, for
up to 52 weeks, if you earn less than £15,000 a year. This
counts as income for most means-tested benefits, but not for
Disabled Person's Tax Credit. You can also get the Employment
Credit to help you become self employed, provided you have a
good business plan.
• Training Grant. On top of the Employment Credit, you could get
an additional grant of up to £750 to help with training that is
both directly relevant to your job and helps develop skills for
future work.
• Help and advice. If you are interested in any of these options, or
you need any other help with finding work, contact the New Deal
Adviser at your local JobCentre.
Help for Disabled People
Extra Benefit. If you are at a disadvantage in the workplace because of
a disability, if you also get certain qualifying benefits and you have low
or moderate earnings and less than £16,000 savings, you may get
Disabled Person's Tax Credit. It is paid with your wages.
❚ Benefits you can continue to get. Some benefits for disabled people
such as Disability Living Allowance, should not be affected when you
start work, provided your care and mobility needs remain the same.
❚ Keeping your Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance.
You can't normally keep these benefits if you work 16 hours or more
a week, but there are some exceptions. For example, you could do
voluntary work, or work as part of a sheltered work scheme or
medical treatment programme. You should seek advice before
starting work.
❚ Going back onto Incapacity Benefit or Income Support. You can go
back onto the same level of benefit you are on now, if you have to
return to it, in less than a year. You need to tell the Benefits Agency
when you are about to start work.
Help and advice. Contact your local JobCentre or, the Shaw Trust
Personal Adviser Service, (New Deal for Disabled People).
Extra help for young people aged 18-24
❚ The New Deal. If you are 18-24 the JobCentre will contact you after
you have been unemployed for 6 months. Some young people who
are at a disadvantage in the job market, can volunteer to go onto the
scheme early. If you are interested you can contact your Personal
Adviser at the JobCentre.
❚ Help starting work. As part of the New Deal you can get help with
your jobsearch skills, interview techniques, job applications and fares
to job interviews from the Employment Service.
❚ Your New Deal options. If you have been unable to obtain an
unsubsidised job after 4 months on the New Deal you will have four
options to help you get work in future. These options are:
• Full-time Education
• A job with a temporary earnings top-up.
• Work with a voluntary agency or, work with the environmental
task force.
• Self-employment. You can get practical help with setting up in