The Income-Related Benefits (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations amend the Family Credit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the Family Credit Regulations”), the Disability Working Allowance (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 (“the Disability Working Allowance Regulations”) and the Income-Related Benefits and Jobseeker’s Allowance (Personal Allowances for Children and Young Persons) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (“the Income-Related Benefits Regulations”).

Regulation 2 amends the Family Credit Regulations in relation to what constitutes remunerative work for the purposes of those Regulations.

Regulations 3 and 4 make amendments to the Family Credit Regulations and the Disability Working Allowance Regulations respectively which are consequential on previous amendments to those Regulations which provided that an increase in the appropriate maximum family credit and disability working allowance will no longer be applicable in respect of young persons aged 18 or over.

Regulation 5(2)(a) amends the operative date provisions for housing benefit within the Income-Related Benefits Regulations by inserting an operative date for those cases where payments by way of rates are not made together with rent at weekly intervals or multiples thereof.

Regulation 5(2)(b) and (3) amends the Income-Related Benefits Regulations in order to clarify the date from which the amendments in those Regulations will have effect for those with awards of family credit or disability working allowance on the date those Regulations come into operation and to ensure that the amendments made by regulations 3 and 4 of these Regulations will not apply in respect of young persons who attained the age of 18 before these Regulations came into operation.

In so far as these Regulations are required, for the purposes of regulation 5(1) and (2)(a) to be referred to the Social Security Advisory Committee under section 149(2) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8), (“the 1992 Act”), and after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee, they have not been so referred by virtue of section 150(1)(b) of that Act. Otherwise they make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Social Security in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the 1992 Act, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.