Request

Healthy Start agents advise on the telephone and by email that "Applicants would need to have received their first two payments from Universal Credit before they can apply." This is also cited as a reason for rejection when you ask for an explanation.

This information is not provided on the website.

1. Please could you provide the basis for this statement and

2. any policy documents that confirm this?

Response

Question 1

The below is taken from the article which our call handlers refer to when providing advice to service users.

‘If the beneficiary has recently started receiving UC, the application may fail if they've not received their first 2 payments. Tell the beneficiary to apply again once they've received their second payment.’

Question 2

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). The NHSBSA does not set policy regarding the Healthy Start Scheme. The NHSBSA delivers the Healthy Start scheme of behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care, who may hold the information you have requested. They can be contacted as follows:

Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries Unit

Department of Health and Social Care

39 Victoria Street

London SW1H 0EU

Contact form https://contactus.dhsc.gov.uk/

Further information

Upon the receipt of your FOI, we reviewed the articles that are used to support our customer contact centre, and we found that an article contained incorrect information about the subject you have queried. The article has now been updated to reflect the correct procedure and guidance as per the regulations. Our internal articles are frequently reviewed upon agent feedback, and a response has been provided to the team managing these articles.

We have provided some information below from the regulations that govern the NHS Healthy Start scheme, as well as the Universal Credit regulations.

The NHSBSA delivers the Healthy Start scheme of behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. The regulations which govern the scheme ‘The Healthy Start Scheme and Welfare Food (Amendment) Regulations 2005’ state that an applicant must be more than 10 weeks pregnant and/or have parental responsibility of a child under four and be in receipt of Universal Credit with earned income of £408 or less in the period specified below.

The period is –

(a) the most recent complete assessment period; or (b) the assessment period immediately preceding that assessment period.

In this regulation - “assessment period” has the meaning given in regulation 21 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013.

The Universal Credit Regulations 2013 regulation 21 states:

An assessment period is a period of one month beginning with the first date of entitlement and each subsequent period of one month during which entitlement subsists.

Therefore, once an applicant has been awarded Universal Credit and a complete assessment period has passed, they would be able apply for the NHS Healthy Start scheme provided they also meet the relevant requirements.

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data, please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2024” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.