Count widowed parent's allowance as Pension Credit income

changelog.d/pension-credit-widowed-parents-allowance.fixed.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Counted widowed parent's allowance as Pension Credit income less £10 a week (State Pension Credit Regulations 2002 reg. 15(1) and Sch. IV para. 7), so an award that displaces Carer's Allowance or Carer Support Payment no longer raises Guarantee Credit by the whole amount displaced.

policyengine_uk/parameters/gov/dwp/pension_credit/guarantee_credit/income.yaml

@@ -42,3 +42,12 @@ values:
   - sda
   - incapacity_benefit
   - maternity_allowance
+  # Reg. 15(1) does not list widowed parent's allowance either (it excepts
+  # bereavement support payment, at (n)). The claimant's and partner's
+  # allowances count, each less £10 a week (Sch. IV para. 7). SSCBA 1992
+  # s.39A(4) and (5) end the allowance at pensionable age and suspend it
+  # while the recipient lives with a partner, so a lawful award should not
+  # meet a Pension Credit assessment; a reported one counts. It overlaps with
+  # Carer's Allowance and Carer Support Payment, so leaving it out let an
+  # award raise Guarantee Credit by the carer's benefit it displaced.
+  - pension_credit_widowed_parents_allowance_income

policyengine_uk/parameters/gov/dwp/pension_credit/income/widowed_parents_allowance_disregard.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+description: Weekly amount of a widowed parent's allowance disregarded from income for Pension Credit.
+values:
+  2003-10-06: 10
+metadata:
+  unit: currency-GBP
+  period: week
+  label: Pension Credit widowed parent's allowance disregard
+  reference:
+    - title: State Pension Credit Regulations 2002 Sch. IV para. 7
+      href: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/1792/schedule/IV/paragraph/7
+    - title: State Pension Credit Regulations 2002 reg. 17(7)
+      href: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/1792/regulation/17
+    - title: State Pension Credit Regulations 2002 reg. 1(1) (in force 6 October 2003)
+      href: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/1792/regulation/1

policyengine_uk/tests/policy/baseline/gov/dwp/pension_credit/pension_credit_widowed_parents_allowance.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+# Widowed parent's allowance (WPA) in Pension Credit and pension-age Housing
+# Benefit income.
+#
+# SPC Regs 2002 reg 15(1): "all social security benefits are prescribed except"
+# a closed list. The list excepts bereavement support payment (n) but not WPA.
+# Reg 17(7) applies Sch IV, whose para 7 disregards "£10 of any widowed
+# parent's allowance to which the claimant is entitled under section 39A of
+# the 1992 Act", and reg 14 applies Part III's references to the claimant
+# equally to a partner, so each member's allowance gets its own £10. Reg 9
+# does not make WPA non-qualifying income for Savings Credit. HB (SPC) Regs
+# 2006 Sch 5 para 7 disregards £15 a week of it for pension-age Housing
+# Benefit.
+#
+# SSCBA 1992 s.39A(4) and (5) end the allowance at pensionable age and suspend
+# it while the recipient lives with a partner, so these pensioners could not
+# lawfully be paid it. The cases test how a reported award is counted, not
+# whether it would be paid.
+# Weekly rates, x 52: SI 2026/148 art 29, standard minimum guarantee 238.00
+# single and 363.25 couple, Savings Credit threshold 208.07 single; Carer's
+# Allowance 86.45 from 6 April 2026
+# (gov.dwp.carers_allowance.rate and the up-rating order it cites).
+# Nobody pays income tax: each total income is below the personal allowance.
+
+- name: Case 1, single pensioner with a reported widowed parent's allowance.
+  period: 2026
+  absolute_error_margin: 0.01
+  input:
+    people:
+      person1:
+        age: 70
+        state_pension: 0
+        private_pension_income: 1_000
+        widowed_parents_allowance_reported: 2_000
+    benunits:
+      benunit:
+        members: [person1]
+    households:
+      household:
+        members: [person1]
+        country: ENGLAND
+  output:
+    # 2,000 - 10 x 52 = 1,480.
+    pension_credit_widowed_parents_allowance_income: 2_000 - 10 * 52
+    # 1,000 + 1,480 = 2,480.
+    pension_credit_income: 2_480
+    # 12,376 - 2,480 = 9,896.
+    guarantee_credit: 238 * 52 - 2_480
+
+- name: Case 2, pensioner couple whose partner has a reported widowed parent's allowance.
+  period: 2026
+  absolute_error_margin: 0.01
+  input:
+    people:
+      person1:
+        age: 70
+        state_pension: 0
+        private_pension_income: 5_000
+      person2:
+        age: 70
+        state_pension: 0
+        widowed_parents_allowance_reported: 3_000
+    benunits:
+      benunit:
+        members: [person1, person2]
+    households:
+      household:
+        members: [person1, person2]
+        country: ENGLAND
+  output:
+    # The partner's allowance counts (SPCA 2002 s.5), less £10 a week:
+    # 3,000 - 520 = 2,480.
+    pension_credit_widowed_parents_allowance_income: 3_000 - 10 * 52
+    # 5,000 + 2,480 = 7,480.
+    pension_credit_income: 7_480
+    # 18,889 - 7,480 = 11,409.
+    guarantee_credit: 363.25 * 52 - 7_480
+
+- name: Case 3, the allowance displaces Carer's Allowance, so Pension Credit income falls by the £10 a week disregarded.
+  period: 2026
+  absolute_error_margin: 0.01
+  input:
+    people:
+      person1:
+        age: 70
+        state_pension: 0
+        care_hours: 35
+        widowed_parents_allowance_reported: 1_000
+    benunits:
+      benunit:
+        members: [person1]
+    households:
+      household:
+        members: [person1]
+        country: ENGLAND
+  output:
+    # The Overlapping Benefits Regulations reduce Carer's Allowance by the
+    # 1,000: 4,495.40 - 1,000 = 3,495.40.
+    carers_allowance: 86.45 * 52 - 1_000
+    # (1,000 - 520) + 3,495.40 = 3,975.40: 520 less than the 4,495.40 with
+    # no allowance.
+    pension_credit_income: 86.45 * 52 - 10 * 52
+
+- name: Case 4, Savings Credit counts the allowance as qualifying income.
+  period: 2026
+  absolute_error_margin: 0.01
+  input:
+    people:
+      person1:
+        # Reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016.
+        age: 80
+        state_pension: 0
+        private_pension_income: 9_500
+        widowed_parents_allowance_reported: 2_000
+    benunits:
+      benunit:
+        members: [person1]
+    households:
+      household:
+        members: [person1]
+        country: ENGLAND
+  output:
+    # 9,500 + (2,000 - 520) = 10,980.
+    pension_credit_income: 10_980
+    savings_credit_income: 10_980
+    # Qualifying income is above the threshold (208.07 x 52 = 10,819.64) and
+    # income below the guarantee (12,376), so 0.6 x 160.36 = 96.22.
+    savings_credit: 0.6 * (10_980 - 208.07 * 52)
+    # 12,376 - 10,980 = 1,396.
+    guarantee_credit: 238 * 52 - 10_980
+
+- name: Case 5, pension-age Housing Benefit counts the allowance less £15 a week.
+  period: 2026
+  absolute_error_margin: 0.01
+  input:
+    people:
+      person1:
+        age: 70
+        state_pension: 0
+        widowed_parents_allowance_reported: 2_000
+    benunits:
+      benunit:
+        members: [person1]
+    households:
+      household:
+        members: [person1]
+        country: ENGLAND
+  output:
+    # 2,000 - 15 x 52 = 1,220.
+    housing_benefit_widowed_parents_allowance_income: 2_000 - 15 * 52
+    # 2,000 - 10 x 52 = 1,480.
+    pension_credit_income: 2_000 - 10 * 52
+
+- name: Case 6, each member of a couple gets their own £10 a week.
+  period: 2026
+  absolute_error_margin: 0.01
+  input:
+    people:
+      person1:
+        age: 70
+        state_pension: 0
+        widowed_parents_allowance_reported: 1_000
+      person2:
+        age: 70
+        state_pension: 0
+        widowed_parents_allowance_reported: 1_000
+    benunits:
+      benunit:
+        members: [person1, person2]
+    households:
+      household:
+        members: [person1, person2]
+        country: ENGLAND
+  output:
+    # Reg 14: each allowance less 520, so 2 x 480 = 960.
+    pension_credit_widowed_parents_allowance_income: 2 * (1_000 - 10 * 52)
+    pension_credit_income: 960
+    # 18,889 - 960 = 17,929.
+    guarantee_credit: 363.25 * 52 - 960
+
+- name: Case 7, an allowance of £10 a week or less counts as nil.
+  period: 2026
+  absolute_error_margin: 0.01
+  input:
+    people:
+      person1:
+        age: 70
+        state_pension: 0
+        widowed_parents_allowance_reported: 300
+    benunits:
+      benunit:
+        members: [person1]
+    households:
+      household:
+        members: [person1]
+        country: ENGLAND
+  output:
+    pension_credit_widowed_parents_allowance_income: 0
+    pension_credit_income: 0
+    guarantee_credit: 238 * 52