The Income Support (General) Amendment Regulations 1991

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 in the following respects:

(a) they substitute references to “the Secretary of State for Employment” for references to the “Training Commission” (regulation 2); and extend the definition of a “person from abroad” to nationals of states who are signatories to the Council of Europe’s Social Charter (regulation 7);

(b) they introduce a new method of apportioning housing costs in the case of composite hereditaments created since 1st April 1990 (regulation 12); make provision for student loans granted in Northern Ireland to be treated as income, for the calculation of that income, and for deaf students in receipt of certain educational awards under that country’s legislation to be eligible for benefit (regulations 9 and 10);

(c) they provide for a person’s applicable amount not to be reduced when an appeal on the question of his incapacity for work is pending (regulation 8); and remove the restriction whereby a lone parent is excluded from receiving an amount in respect of a child who is a person from abroad (regulation 13);

(d) they remove any overlap or gap in the periods for which a person under 18 may be eligible for income support and for which child benefit is payable (regulation 6); provide for such a person, or a young person in relevant education, living away from his parents to be eligible for income support only if he is also livingaway from a person acting in the place of his parents (regulations 5 and 11); make provision for a person’s attendance allowance to be fully disregarded if he is in a residential care or nursing home and is ineligible for the higher amounts applicable to such homes, (regulation 14); and make certain other minor amendments (regulations 3 and 4).