d district level with responsibilities for partnership and external relations management and many areas also have regional housing benefit forums which can be used to start the process of joint working. 8.39. Given the complexity of claiming means tested benefits, PAs should actively support young people with their initial benefit claim. This may involve assisting young people with phone calls to register their initial claim, accompanying them to their initial Job Centre Plus appointments, completing forms, providing supporting documents and letters and by the provision of transitional payments. PAs should be aware of how benefit claims can be submitted and that where a young person is ‘vulnerable’ it should be possible to arrange with Jobcentre Plus for a paper, rather than a telephone, claim to be submitted. Disregarded payments 8.40. Payments made under sections 23B, 23C, 24A and 24B of the 1989 Act by the responsible authority are disregarded by the Department of Work and Pensions for the purpose of calculating entitlement to means tested benefits such as, Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Housing Benefit, Local Housing Allowance and Council Tax Benefit or Child Tax Credits. These payments are also disregarded in assessing the student support entitlement of an eligible higher education student attending a designated course. Education, training and employment 8.41. One of the key indicators of future economic well-being is the level of education and training that a person achieves. Therefore, local authorities will need to have high aspirations for their young people and practical and financial policies that translate these aspirations into practice. Financial support and policies should promote and encourage young people to rem