Correct the bereavement support plan docs page

changelog.d/466-bereavement-support-corrections.changed.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Corrected the bereavement support plan (docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md): Microcosm UK as the certified default and its split of FRS code 9, the BSP claim-time limits and higher-rate test, the cohabitee rules after the 2023 Remedial Order, and the WPA dates, continuation and uprating, including that WPA is closed to deaths from 6 April 2017 but still takes new claims for earlier deaths.

docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md

@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ the related historical-WPA ask in
 [#465](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/465).
 Updated October 2026: still reported-only; the facts below were checked
 against GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk. The data notes cover both the
-certified Enhanced FRS (policyengine-uk-data) and Microcosm UK, the
-dataset being built to replace it.
+Enhanced FRS (policyengine-uk-data, which policyengine-uk's own tests
+still pin at 1.58.1) and Microcosm UK, which replaced it as the certified
+default UK dataset in policyengine.py 6.10.0 (21 October 2026).
 ```
 
 ## What's currently modelled
@@ -36,20 +37,31 @@ That means:
 - Reform analyses changing BSP rates have no household-level surface.
 - Anyone bereaved after the FRS reference week never appears as a BSP
   recipient even if eligible.
-- Both the Enhanced FRS
+- The Enhanced FRS
   ([`frs.py`](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk-data/blob/main/policyengine_uk_data/datasets/frs.py))
-  and Microcosm UK fill `bsp_reported` from FRS benefit codes 6 and 9
-  ([`frs_spine.py`](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/blob/75167a68/packages/microcosm-build/src/microcosm/build/uk_runtime/frs_spine.py#L825)),
-  and Microcosm's own
+  fills `bsp_reported` from FRS benefit codes 6 and 9, and so did
+  Microcosm UK up to its certified 19 October 2026 build
+  ([`frs_spine.py`](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/blob/75167a68/packages/microcosm-build/src/microcosm/build/uk_runtime/frs_spine.py#L825));
+  Microcosm's own
   [source notes](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/blob/d1fda720/packages/microcosm-build/src/microcosm/build/uk/spec/sources.yaml#L1870)
-  say code 6 mixes benefits and code 9 is tax-free War Widow's Pension. So the reported "BSP" also carries legacy
-  widow's benefits and War Widow's Pension.
+  say code 6 mixes benefits and code 9 is tax-free War Widow's Pension.
+  The FRS labels code 6 "Bereavement Support Payment / Widowed Parent's
+  Allowance" and code 9 "War Widow's/Widower's Pension", so wherever both
+  codes are summed the reported "BSP" also carries Widowed Parent's
+  Allowance and War Widow's Pension. Microcosm's main branch now puts
+  code 9 in `war_widows_pension_reported` and keeps only code 6 in
+  `bsp_reported`
+  ([microcosm#1333](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/pull/1333)).
 - Since [#2382](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/pull/2382)
   (2.135.7), War Widow's Pension has its own variables,
   `war_widows_pension_reported` and `war_widows_pension`. `bsp_reported`
   keeps CPI uprating only until the datasets move FRS code 9 out of it
-  ([policyengine-uk-data#578](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk-data/issues/578),
-  [microcosm#1222](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/issues/1222));
+  and WPA into `widowed_parents_allowance_reported` (code 9 is done on
+  Microcosm's main branch in microcosm#1333; still open for the
+  Enhanced FRS in
+  [policyengine-uk-data#578](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk-data/issues/578),
+  and [microcosm#1222](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/issues/1222)
+  is still open);
   [#2381](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/2381)
   tracks freezing it after that.
 - Since [#2572](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/2572),
@@ -74,18 +86,27 @@ The BSP under the [Pensions Act 2014, Part 5][pa-2014-5] and the
 pays:
 
 - A **lump sum** of either £2,500 (standard rate) or £3,500 (higher
-  rate, with a dependent child).
-- **18 monthly payments** of £100 (standard) or £350 (higher), for a
-  death on or after 6 April 2017
-  ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment/what-youll-get)).
-
-The higher rate applies if, when the partner died, the claimant was
-getting (or entitled to) Child Benefit for a child living with them, or
-was pregnant. The
+  rate), paid only if the claim is made within 12 months of the death
+  (SI 2017/410 reg 3(2) and (5)).
+- Up to **18 monthly payments** of £100 (standard) or £350 (higher), all
+  18 only if the claim is made within 3 months of the death
+  ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment/what-youll-get)),
+  for a death on or after 6 April 2017, when Pensions Act 2014 s. 30 came
+  fully into force. Someone who reaches State Pension age within 18
+  months of the death may get fewer.
+
+The higher rate applies if the claimant was pregnant or entitled to
+Child Benefit when the partner died, or later became entitled to Child
+Benefit for a child who lived with them or the partner immediately
+before the death (SI 2017/410 reg 4). The
 [Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2023](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/134/contents)
 (SI 2023/134) extended BSP and WPA to cohabiting partners with
 children, with effect back to 30 August 2018, after the Supreme Court's
-2018 McLaughlin judgment. It didn't change the number of payments.
+2018 McLaughlin judgment (on WPA) and the High Court's 2020 Jackson
+judgment (on BSP). It kept the 18-month maximum, but a cohabiting
+partner whose partner died between 6 April 2017 and 29 August 2018 gets
+18 monthly payments less one for each month that had passed by
+29 August 2018 (SI 2017/410 reg 2(7) to (11)).
 
 To model this we need:
 
@@ -94,8 +115,10 @@ To model this we need:
   the [single initial payment](https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment/what-youll-get)
   is paid once. A flag for "bereaved in the last 18 months" would stay
   true across two consecutive annual periods and pay the lump sum twice.
-- `bsp_higher_rate_eligible` (Person, YEAR): whether they have a
-  dependent child.
+- `bsp_higher_rate_eligible` (Person, YEAR): whether they were pregnant
+  or entitled to Child Benefit when the partner died, or became entitled
+  afterwards for a child who lived with them or the partner
+  (SI 2017/410 reg 4).
 - `bsp_months_remaining` (Person, YEAR): how many of the 18 monthly
   instalments fall within the simulation year (0 to 12). This is where
   the 18-month window belongs.
@@ -125,24 +148,38 @@ been £350, £3,500, £100 and £2,500 since April 2017, and the
 ### Phase 2: historical WPA under the same formula
 
 Widowed Parent's Allowance (under [Social Security Contributions and
-Benefits Act 1992 s. 39A][sscba-39a]) was paid for deaths from April
-2001 up to 5 April 2017. The benefit:
-
-- Continued for as long as the surviving spouse had a dependent child.
-- Was uprated annually.
+Benefits Act 1992 s. 39A][sscba-39a]) is paid for deaths before 6 April
+2017 (s. 39A(1)(a)), except where a woman's husband died before 9 April
+2001 (s. 39A(1A)). The benefit:
+
+- Continues while the survivor is entitled to Child Benefit for a
+  qualifying child (or is pregnant) and is under State Pension age, and
+  ends on remarriage or a new civil or cohabiting partnership
+  (s. 39A(4) and (5)).
+- Is uprated each April (£156.65 a week from April 2026, SI 2026/148
+  art 18).
 - Was replaced by BSP for deaths from 6 April 2017.
 
 For historical analyses the model should:
 
-- Add `wpa_eligible` (Person, YEAR): partner died between April 2001
-  and 5 April 2017, the survivor is under State Pension age and is
-  entitled to Child Benefit.
+- Add `wpa_eligible` (Person, YEAR): the partner died before 6 April
+  2017 (but not a woman's husband before 9 April 2001), the partner met
+  the contribution conditions, and the survivor is under State Pension
+  age, has not remarried or formed a new partnership, and is entitled to
+  Child Benefit for a qualifying child or is pregnant (SSCBA 1992
+  s. 39A).
 - Replace the `adds` of `widowed_parents_allowance` (Person, YEAR) with
   a formula reading the WPA rate parameter (which would need
   backfilling under `gov/dwp/wpa/rate.yaml`).
 
-WPA has no new awards, but existing awards continue while the
-surviving parent has a dependent child, so some recipients remain. In
+WPA is closed to deaths from 6 April 2017, but new claims for earlier
+deaths are still possible
+([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/widowed-parents-allowance)): the 2023 Remedial Order brought about 3,400
+successful WPA claims from cohabiting partners between February 2023 and
+November 2024
+([DWP, July 2025](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bereavement-benefit-remedial-order-uptake-february-2023-to-november-2024)).
+Existing awards continue while the surviving parent is entitled to Child
+Benefit and under State Pension age, so some recipients remain. In
 the current data they sit inside `bsp_reported` (see above), so they
 are already counted in income. Once datasets fill
 `widowed_parents_allowance_reported`, they are told apart from BSP; the
@@ -151,14 +188,16 @@ gap left is a rule-based amount for reforms.
 ### Phase 3: data-side bereavement inputs
 
 Neither `bsp_initial_payment_due` nor `bsp_months_remaining` exists in
-the FRS. The FRS is a cross-section, not a panel, and doesn't record
-when a partner died, so these inputs would need imputing in the data (Microcosm UK, as the
-replacement dataset):
+the FRS. The FRS is a cross-section, not a panel, and its benefits
+documentation shows no record of when a partner died, so these inputs
+would need imputing in the data (Microcosm UK, now the certified default
+UK dataset):
 
 - start from FRS respondents who report BSP (once it is separated from
   the other codes, as above) and from widowed respondents;
-- calibrate to DWP's BSP and WPA caseloads ([Stat-Xplore](https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/)) by age, sex
-  and region.
+- calibrate to DWP's BSP caseloads ([Stat-Xplore](https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/),
+  by age, gender and geography, from April 2017) and to WPA caseloads
+  where DWP still publishes them.
 
 This is the heaviest of the three phases; without it the new
 variables work for the household calculator (which can input them
@@ -169,10 +208,12 @@ directly) but not for microsim aggregates.
 - WPA recipients who would have been on BSP under the new rules: do we
   want a reform-side parameter "treat all WPA receipts as if they were
   BSP" for counterfactual analysis?
-- The 2023 Remedial Order extended BSP to cohabiting partners with
-  children, with effect from 30 August 2018. Eligibility should not
-  require marriage or civil partnership for deaths from that date where
-  there are children.
+- The 2023 Remedial Order extended BSP to cohabiting partners, with
+  effect from 30 August 2018. Eligibility should not require marriage or
+  civil partnership where the survivor was pregnant or entitled to Child
+  Benefit (Pensions Act 2014 s. 30(1)(aa)), for deaths on or after
+  6 April 2017; for deaths before 30 August 2018 the monthly payments
+  are cut as in SI 2017/410 reg 2(7) to (11).
 
 ## References
 
@@ -182,7 +223,8 @@ directly) but not for microsim aggregates.
 - [Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2023 (SI 2023/134)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/134/contents): cohabiting-parent extension, effective from 30 August 2018.
 - [SSCBA 1992 s. 39A][sscba-39a]: legacy WPA basis.
 - gov.uk, [Bereavement Support Payment](https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment) and [Widowed Parent's Allowance](https://www.gov.uk/widowed-parents-allowance).
-- DWP, [Stat-Xplore](https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/): Bereavement Support Payment and Widowed Parent's Allowance caseloads.
+- DWP, [Stat-Xplore](https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/): Bereavement Support Payment claims and recipients from April 2017.
+- DWP, [Uptake of backdated BSP and WPA under the Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2023](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bereavement-benefit-remedial-order-uptake-february-2023-to-november-2024) (July 2025).
 - Issues: [#466](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/466) (BSP formula), [#465](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/465) (historical WPA).
 
 [pa-2014-5]: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/19/part/5