The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998

Part I General

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 and this regulation and regulation 10 shall come into operation on 1st April 1998.

(2) Except in the case of regulation 10, in so far as these Regulations amend provisions relating to income support or jobseeker’s allowance, they shall come into operation on 6th April 1998 and in relation to a claimant for either income support or jobseeker’s allowance, they shall have effect from the first day of the first benefit week to commence for that claimant on or after that date and, in a case to which regulation 5(2)(b) applies, immediately after Article 18(8) of, and Schedule 7 to, the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order (Northern Ireland) 1998(1) come into operation.

(3) In paragraph (2) “benefit week” and “claimant” with respect to income support shall have the same meaning as in regulation 2(1) of the Income Support Regulations(2) and with respect to jobseeker’s allowance “benefit week” shall have the same meaning as in regulation 1(2) of the Jobseeker’s Regulations(3).

(4) In so far as these Regulations amend provisions relating to disability working allowance or family credit, they shall come into operation on 7th April 1998 and, in relation to any particular claimant for either of those benefits, they shall have effect where a claimant has an award of disability working allowance or family credit which is current on 7th April 1998, on the day following the expiration of that award.

(5) In so far as these Regulations amend provisions relating to housing benefit—

(a) in any case to which paragraph (6) applies, they shall come into operation on 1st April 1998, and

(b) in any other case, they shall come into operation on 6th April 1998.

(6) This paragraph applies in any case where—

(a) rent is payable at intervals of one month or any other interval which is not a week or a multiple thereof, or

(b) payments by way of rates are not made together with payments of rent at weekly intervals or multiples thereof.

(7) In these Regulations—

“the Disability Working Allowance Regulations” means the Disability Working Allowance (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992(4);

“the Family Credit Regulations” means the Family Credit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(5);

“the Housing Benefit Regulations” means the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(6);

“the Income Support Regulations” means the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(7);

“the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations” means the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(8).

(8) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(9) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to a Measure of the Assembly.

Part II Child Maintenance Bonus

Amendment of the Social Security (Child Maintenance Bonus) Regulations

2.—(1) The Social Security (Child Maintenance Bonus) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(10) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (5).

(2) In regulation 1(2) (interpretation) for the definition of “child maintenance”(11) there shall be substituted the following definition—

• ““child maintenance” means maintenance in any of the following forms—

  (a)

  child support maintenance paid or payable;

  (b)

  maintenance paid or payable by an absent parent to a person with care of a qualifying child, under an agreement (whether enforceable or not) between them, or by virtue of an order of a court, or

  (c)

  maintenance deducted from any benefit payable to an absent parent who is liable to maintain a qualifying child,

  which, as the case may be, is paid, payable, or deducted on or after the 1st April 1998, but does not include any maintenance paid or payable in respect of a former partner.”.

(3) In regulation 3(1) (entitlement to a bonus) for sub-paragraph (f) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(f) the work condition is satisfied within the period of—

(i) in a case where an applicant with care cares for one child only and that child dies, 12 months immediately following the date of death;

(ii) in a case where the absent parent has—

(aa) died;

(bb) ceased to be habitually resident in the United Kingdom, or

(cc) has been found not to be the parent of the qualifying child or children,

12 weeks immediately following the first date on which any of those events occurs;

(iii) in any other case, 14 days immediately following the day on which the bonus period applying to the applicant comes to an end.”.

(4) In regulation 4(1)(c) (bonus period) for head (i)(12) there shall be substituted the following head—

“(i) paid or payable to the applicant, or”.

(5) In regulation 10(1) (claiming a bonus)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (b)(13) the words “(c) or” shall be omitted, and

(b) sub-paragraph (c)(14) shall be omitted.

Part III Amendments with respect to Income-Related Benefits and Jobseeker’s Allowance

Common Amendments: Disregard of contribution

3.—(1) In each of the regulations specified in paragraph (2) (students) in the definition of “contribution” after “in respect of the income” there shall be inserted “of a student or”.

(2) The regulations specified in this paragraph are—

(a) regulation 41 of the Disability Working Allowance Regulations;

(b) regulation 37 of the Family Credit Regulations;

(c) regulation 46 of the Housing Benefit Regulations(15);

(d) regulation 61 of the Income Support Regulations(16), and

(e) regulation 130 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations.

(3) In each of the regulations specified in paragraph (4) the following regulation shall be inserted and numbered in accordance with that paragraph—

“Further disregard of student’s income

Where any part of a student’s income has already been taken into account for the purposes of assessing his entitlement to a grant, the amount taken into account shall be disregarded in assessing that student’s income.”.

(4) The Regulations and regulation numbers specified in this paragraph are—

(a) regulation 48A of the Disability Working Allowance Regulations;

(b) regulation 43A of the Family Credit Regulations;

(c) regulation 58A of the Housing Benefit Regulations;

(d) regulation 67A of the Income Support Regulations, and

(e) regulation 137A of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations.

Common Amendments: Disregard of income other than earnings

4.—(1) For each of the paragraphs of the Schedules to the Regulations specified in paragraph (2) (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

• “Any payment—

  (a)

  made to the claimant or his partner for a person (“the person concerned”), who is not normally a member of the claimant’s household but is temporarily in his care by—

  (i)

  an authority;

  (ii)

  a voluntary organisation, or

  (iii)

  the person concerned pursuant to Article 36(7) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(17), or

  (b)

  made to the claimant or his partner for a person who is not normally a member of the claimant’s household but is temporarily in his care by a training school within the meaning of section 137 of the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 1968(18) (approval of schools).”.

(2) The paragraphs of the Schedules to the Regulations specified in this paragraph are—

(a) paragraph 24 of Schedule 3 to the Disability Working Allowance Regulations(19);

(b) paragraph 24 of Schedule 2 to the Family Credit Regulations(20);

(c) paragraph 27 of Schedule 4 to the Housing Benefit Regulations(21);

(d) paragraph 27 of Schedule 9 to the Income Support Regulations(22), and

(e) paragraph 28 of Schedule 6 to the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations(23).

(3) In Schedule 4 to the Housing Benefit Regulations in paragraph 35(24) for “paragraphs 15” there shall be substituted “paragraphs 15(1)”.

Housing Benefit, Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance: Amendments with respect to persons in detention

5.—(1) For the words referred to in each of the provisions specified in paragraph (2) there shall be substituted “who is detained in hospital”—

(2) The words referred to and the provisions specified in this paragraph are—

(a) in the Housing Benefit Regulations—

(i) in regulation 5(8A)(25) (circumstances in which a person is to be treated as liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling) for “who is detained”;

(ii) in regulation 63(7)(e)(iii)(26) (non-dependant deductions) for “whose detention is”;

(b) in the Income Support Regulations—

(i) in regulation 21(3)(27) (special cases) in the definition of “prisoner”(28) for “whose detention is”;

(ii) in Schedule 7 in column 1 of paragraph 2A(29) (applicable amounts in special cases) for “who is detained”, and

(c) in the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations in regulation 85(4) (special cases) in the definition of “prisoner” for “whose detention is”.

Housing Benefit: Maximum rent

6.  In regulation 11 of the Housing Benefit Regulations(30) (maximum rent) in paragraph (16) in the definition of “property-specific rent” for “paragraph 1(2)” there shall be substituted “paragraph 1” and for “paragraph 3” there shall be substituted “paragraph 3(3)”.

Housing Benefit: Excluded tenancies

7.  In Schedule 1B to the Housing Benefit Regulations(31) (excluded tenancies) in paragraph 2(3)(c) for “for the purposes of paragraph 2” there shall be substituted “under paragraph 2(2)”.

Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance: Treatment of grant awards for former students

8.  In regulation 29(2A) of the Income Support Regulations(32) and regulation 94(2A) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations(33) (calculations of earnings derived from employed earner’s employment and income other than earnings) after sub-paragraph (a) the following sub-paragraph shall be inserted—

“(aa) where the grant is paid in instalments, on the day before the next instalment would have been paid had the claimant remained a student, or”.

Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance: Calculation of notional income and income other than earnings

9.—(1) The Income Support Regulations shall be amended in accordance with sub-paragraphs (a) to (c)—

(a) in regulation 40(1)(34) (calculation of income other than earnings) for “paragraphs (2) to (3A)”(35) there shall be substituted “paragraphs (2) to (3B)”(36);

(b) in regulation 42(7) (notional income) for “paragraphs (1) to (4)” there shall be substituted “paragraphs (1) to (4A)”(37), and

(c) in Schedule 9 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings)—

(i) in paragraph 7(38)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (a) for “paragraph 6, 9 or 9A”(39) there shall be substituted “paragraph 6 or 9”, and

(b) in sub-paragraph (b) at the end there shall be added “or jobseeker’s allowance”;

(ii) after paragraph 61(40) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“62.   Any payment made with respect to a person on account of the provision of accommodation, aftercare or other personal social services to which Articles 15 and 36 of the 1972 Order refer which falls to be treated as notional income under regulation 42(4A) (payments made in respect of a person in a residential care or nursing home).”.

(2) The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations shall be amended in accordance with sub-paragraphs (a) and (b)—

(a) in regulation 103(1) (calculation of income other than earnings) for “paragraphs (2) to (5)” there shall be substituted “paragraphs (2) to (5A)”(41), and

(b) in Schedule 6 to the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations(42) (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) at the end there shall be added the following paragraph—

“60.   Any payment which falls to be treated as notional income under regulation 105(11) (payments made in respect of a person in a residential care or nursing home).”.

Jobseeker’s Allowance: Periods of interruption of employment

10.—(1) Regulation 47A of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations(43) (job seeking periods: periods of interruption of employment) shall be renumbered as regulation 47A(1) and in sub-paragraph (za) of that paragraph “and is still current on 1st December 1997” shall be omitted.

(2) After the renumbered paragraph (1) the following paragraph shall be added—

“(2) In paragraph (1) “period of interruption of employment” in relation to a period prior to 7th October 1996 has the same meaning as it had in the Benefits Act by virtue of section 25A of that Act(44) (determination of days for which unemployment benefit is payable) as in operation on 6th October 1996.”.

Part IV Amendments with respect to Persons from Abroad

Common amendments with respect to persons from abroad

11.—(1) In each of the regulations specified in paragraph (2) (conditions affecting the entitlement of a person from abroad to the relevant benefits) for “to remain in the United Kingdom by the Secretary of State” there shall be substituted—

“(i) to enter the United Kingdom by an immigration officer appointed for the purposes of the Immigration Act 1971(45), or

(ii) to remain in the United Kingdom by the Secretary of State”.

(2) The regulations specified in this paragraph are—

(a) regulation 16B(b) of the Child Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1979(46);

(b) regulation 5(1A)(b) of the Disability Working Allowance Regulations(47);

(c) regulation 3(1A)(b) of the Family Credit Regulations(48);

(d) regulation 2(1A)(b) of the Social Security (Attendance Allowance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992(49);

(e) regulation 2(1A)(b) of the Social Security (Disability Living Allowance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992(50);

(f) regulation 9(1A)(b) of the Social Security (Invalid Care Allowance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1976(51), and

(g) regulation 3(1A)(b) of the Social Security (Severe Disablement Allowance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1984(52).

(3) In each of the regulations specified in paragraph (4) (conditions affecting the entitlement of a person from abroad to the relevant benefits) after “exceptional leave” there shall be inserted “to enter the United Kingdom by an immigration officer within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971, or”.

(4) The regulations specified in this paragraph are—

(a) regulation 7A(4)(e)(iii) of the Housing Benefit Regulations(53);

(b) regulation 21(3) of the Income Support Regulations(54) in sub-paragraph (c) of the second definition of “person from abroad”, and

(c) regulation 85(4) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations(55) in sub-paragraph (c) of the second definition of “person from abroad”.

Further amendments of the Income Support Regulations and the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations

12.—(1) In regulation 72 of the Income Support Regulations (assessment of income and capital in urgent cases)—

(a) for sub-paragraph (a)(56) of paragraph (1) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(a) any income other than—

(i) a payment of income or income in kind made under the Macfarlane Trust, the Macfarlane (Special Payments) Trust, the Macfarlane (Special Payments) (No. 2) Trust, the Fund, the Eileen Trust or the Independent Living Funds, or

(ii) income to which paragraph 5, 7 (but only to the extent that a concessionary payment would be due under that paragraph for any non-payment of income support under regulation 70 or of jobseeker’s allowance under regulation 147 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (urgent cases)), 31, 39(2), (3) or (4), 40, 42, 52 or 57 of Schedule 9 (disregard of income other than earnings) applies,

possessed or treated as possessed by him, shall be taken into account in full notwithstanding any provision in that Part disregarding the whole or any part of that income;”, and

(b) in paragraph (2)(57) after “Housing Benefits (Northern Ireland) Order 1983” there shall be inserted “or any arrears of benefit due under regulation 70 or regulation 147 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (urgent cases)”.

(2) In regulation 149 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (assessment of income and capital in urgent cases)—

(a) for sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (1) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(a) any income other than—

(i) a payment of income or income in kind made under the Macfarlane Trust, the Macfarlane (Special Payments) Trust, the Macfarlane (Special Payments) (No. 2) Trust, the Fund, the Eileen Trust or the Independent Living Funds, or

(ii) income to which paragraph 6, 8 (but only to the extent that a concessionary payment would be due under that paragraph for any non-payment of jobseeker’s allowance under regulation 147 or of income support under regulation 70 of the Income Support Regulations (urgent cases)), 33, 41(2), (3) or (4) or 42 of Schedule 6 (disregard of income other than earnings) applies,

possessed or treated as possessed by him, shall be taken into account in full notwithstanding any provision in that Part disregarding the whole or any part of that income;”, and

(b) in paragraph (2) after “Part VII of the Benefits Act” there shall be inserted “or any arrears of benefit due under regulation 147 or regulation 70 of the Income Support Regulations (urgent cases)”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland on

L.S.

John O'Neill

Assistant Secretary

6th March 1998.

The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland hereby consents to regulations 3(1), (2)(c), (3) and (4)(c), 4(1), (2)(c) and (3), 5(1) and (2)(a), 6, 7, and 11(3) and (4)(a) of the foregoing Regulations.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland on

L.S.

J. Ritchie

Assistant Secretary

9th March 1998.