Would a CE scheme affect criteria to claim SYOB benefits?

[RoseOK]

Hey everyone,
I have been wanting to start my own business for a while now. The last time I applied for the Start Your Own Bus(SYOB) benefits, whereby you keep 100% of benefits for the first year and 75% for the second year, I was not on JobSeekers for the required 12 months. I am now on JobSeekers again and won't qualify for SYOB until November but I have been sent details of a CE scheme that I must participate in or my payments could be affected. Does anyone know if working under a CE scheme will affect the time for claiming SYOB benefits? Like, after the CE scheme finishes will I need to be on Jobseekers for another full 12 months before I qualify again?

TIA!

 

[lughildanach]

Hey everyone,
I have been wanting to start my own business for a while now. The last time I applied for the Start Your Own Bus(SYOB) benefits, whereby you keep 100% of benefits for the first year and 75% for the second year, I was not on JobSeekers for the required 12 months. I am now on JobSeekers again and won't qualify for SYOB until November but I have been sent details of a CE scheme that I must participate in or my payments could be affected. Does anyone know if working under a CE scheme will affect the time for claiming SYOB benefits? Like, after the CE scheme finishes will I need to be on Jobseekers for another full 12 months before I qualify again?

TIA!

I take it you are talking about the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance? You will have to re-establish your underlying Jobseekers claim after the CE is over, but as long as you do, the time spent on CE does not interrupt your claim, so you should be able to qualify once you reach the 12 month requirement, provided that you meet the other criteria of the scheme.

If you are almost ready to go on to the BTEWA at this stage, you could speak to your case officer about this being a better progression option for you than the CE scheme. It may be that they would be happy to hold back a month or two to allow you this, instead of forcing you into a scheme that you may not want to do, or which may not benefit you as much. If the business plan is viable, this offers a quicker route to get you off a payment, so would save them money.