The Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998

Amendment of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations

3.—(1) The Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992(1) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (8).

(2) In regulation 8A(2) (amount of an interim maintenance assessment) for paragraph (4) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(4) Where a child support officer is unable to ascertain the income of other members of the family of an absent parent so that the disposable income of that absent parent can be calculated in accordance with regulation 12(1)(a) of the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations, the amount of the Category B interim maintenance assessment shall be the maintenance assessment calculated in accordance with Part I of Schedule 1 to the Order on the assumption that the provisions of paragraph 6 of that Schedule do not apply to the absent parent.”.

(3) In regulation 8D (miscellaneous provisions in relation to interim maintenance assessments) after paragraph (1) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(1A) The reference in paragraph (1) to a maintenance assessment calculated in accordance with Part I of Schedule 1 to the Order shall include a maintenance assessment falling within regulation 29A(2)(3).”.

(4) In regulation 9(14)(4) (cancellation of an interim maintenance assessment) for “on which the cancelled interim maintenance assessment ceased to have effect” there shall be substituted “set by the child support officer under paragraph (12) on which the cancellation referred to in that paragraph took effect”.

(5) After regulation 10 (notification of a new or fresh maintenance assessment) there shall be inserted the following regulation—

“Notification of increase or reduction in the amount of a maintenance assessment

10A.— (1) Where, in a case falling within paragraph (2B) of regulation 22 of the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations(5) (multiple applications relating to an absent parent), a child support officer has increased or reduced one or more of the other maintenance assessments referred to in that paragraph following the making of the fresh assessment referred to in sub-paragraph (c) of that paragraph, he shall, so far as that is reasonably practicable, immediately notify the relevant persons in respect of whom each maintenance assessment so increased or reduced was made, of—

(a) the making of that fresh assessment;

(b) the amount of the increase or reduction in that maintenance assessment; and

(c) the date on which that increase or reduction shall take effect,

and the notification shall include information as to the provisions of Article 20 of the Order.

(2) Except where a person gives written permission to the Department that the information in relation to him mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) may be conveyed to other persons, any document given or sent under the provisions of paragraph (1) shall not contain—

(a) the address of any person other than the recipient of the document in question (other than the address of the office of the child support officer concerned) or any other information the use of which could reasonably be expected to lead to any person being located;

(b) any other information the use of which could reasonably be expected to lead to any person, other than a qualifying child or a relevant person, being identified.”.

(6) In regulation 16 (intervals between periodical reviews and notice of a periodical review)—

(a) in paragraph (2)(6) for the words from “the period between the effective date of the assessment that has been reviewed” to the end there shall be substituted

• “the period between the effective date of the fresh assessment following the latest review carried out under sub-paragraph (a) or (b) and whichever is the later of—

  (aa)

  the effective date of the assessment falling within paragraph (1)(a)(7); or

  (bb)

  the effective date of the assessment made following the review referred to in paragraph (1)(b) or (c).”;

(b) for paragraph (6) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(6) The provisions of paragraph (5) shall not apply in relation to—

(a) any person to or in respect of whom income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance is payable;

(b) a person with care where income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance is payable to or in respect of the absent parent;

(c) an absent parent or parent with care to whom regulation 10A of the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations(8) applies; or

(d) a parent with care where that regulation applies to the absent parent.”.

(7) In regulation 29A(3)(9) (effective dates of new maintenance assessments in particular cases) for “child support officer” there shall be substituted “Department”.

(8) In paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 (maintenance assessment in force: subsequent application for a maintenance assessment in respect of additional children) for sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(1) Where there is in force a maintenance assessment made in response to an application under Article 7 of the Order by an absent parent or person with care and that assessment is not in respect of all of the absent parent’s children who are in the care of the person with care with respect to whom that assessment was made—

(a) if that absent parent or that person with care makes an application under Article 7 of the Order with respect to the children in respect of whom the assessment currently in force was made and the additional child or one or more of the additional children in the care of that person with care who are children of that absent parent, an assessment made in response to that application shall replace the assessment currently in force;

(b) if that absent parent or that person with care makes an application under Article 7 of the Order in respect of an additional qualifying child or additional qualifying children of that absent parent in the care of that person with care, that application shall be treated as an application for a maintenance assessment in respect of all the qualifying children concerned and the assessment made shall replace the assessment currently in force.”.

(1)

S.R. 1992 No. 340; relevant amending regulations are S.R. 1993 No. 164, S.R. 1995 Nos. 162 and 475 and S.R. 1996 No. 590

(2)

Regulations 8A and 8D were inserted by regulation 3(3) of S.R. 1995 No. 475

(3)

Regulation 29A was inserted by regulation 3(19) of S.R. 1995 No. 475 and paragraph (2) was substituted by regulation 2(5)(a) of S.R. 1996 No. 590

(4)

Regulation 9 was substituted by regulation 3(4) of S.R. 1995 No. 475

(5)

Paragraph (2B) is inserted by regulation 4(11) of these Regulations

(6)

Paragraph (2) was substituted by regulation 3(10)(b) of S.R. 1995 No. 475

(7)

Paragraph (1) was substituted by regulation 4(6) of S.R. 1993 No. 164 and amended by regulation 8(8)(a) of S.R. 1995 No. 162 and regulation 3(10)(a) of S.R. 1995 No. 475

(8)

Regulation 10A was inserted by regulation 3(3) of S.R. 1996 No. 590

(9)

Regulation 29A was inserted by regulation 3(19) of S.R. 1995 No. 475 and paragraph (3) was added by regulation 2(5)(b) of S.R. 1996 No. 590