Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2001 No. 104

HEALTH AND PERSONAL SOCIAL SERVICES

Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001

Made

12th March 2001

Coming into operation

10th April 2001

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety(1), in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Articles 45, 98, 106 and 107(6) of, and paragraphs (1)(b) and 1B of Schedule 15 to, the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(2) and with the approval of the Department of Finance and Personnel in so far as they relate to the remission of charges, and in conjunction with the Department of Finance and Personnel in so far as they relate to travelling expenses, and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 and shall come into operation on 10th April 2001.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the principal Regulations” means the Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989(3).

Amendment of regulation 2 of the principal Regulations

2.  In regulation 2 of the principal Regulations (interpretation) for the definition of “capital limit” substitute—

• ““capital limit”—

  (a)

  in the case of a person who lives permanently in a nursing home or residential care home or in accommodation provided by a Board under Articles 15, 36 and 99 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(4), has the meaning it bears in regulation 20 (Capital Limit) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1993(5), and

  (b)

  in the case of any other person, means the amount prescribed for the purposes of section 130(1) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(6).”.

Amendment of regulation 4 of the principal Regulations

3.  In paragraphs (2)(c) and (g) of regulation 4 of the principal Regulations (description of persons entitled to full remission and payment) for “£70” there shall be substituted “£71”.

Amendment of regulation 6 of the principal Regulations

4.  In paragraph (2)(b) of regulation 6 of the principal Regulations (calculation of resources and requirements) for the words “at the date when he paid the relevant charges or travelling expenses” there shall be substituted “at the date when the relevant charges or travelling expenses are paid in full”.

Amendment of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations

5.  In Table A of Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (modification of provisions of the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(7) at the end of the entry relating to “regulation 53” there shall be added the following paragraph “As if in paragraph 1A for “£10,000” on each occasion it appears there were substituted “£11,500” and as if for “£16,000” there were substituted “£18,500”.”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety on 12th March 2001.

L.S.

D. A. Baker

Senior Officer of the

Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel insofar as the foregoing Regulations relate to Travelling Expenses on 12th March 2001.

L.S.

D. Sterling

Senior Officer of the

Department of Finance and Personnel

The Department of Finance and Personnel hereby approves the foregoing Regulations insofar as they relate to the Remission of Charges.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel on 12th March 2001.

L.S.

D. Sterling

Senior Officer of the

Department of Finance and Personnel

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations further amend the Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989 (“the principal Regulations”), which provide for remission and repayment of certain charges which would otherwise be payable under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 and for the payment by the Department of travelling expenses incurred in attending a hospital.

Regulations 2 amends the definition of “capital limit” as it applies to people living permanently in a nursing or residential care home or in accommodation provided by Boards under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972. This brings it into line with the capital limits applying to the calculations which determine such people’s liability to pay for their care. Table A of Schedule 1 is amended to apply such capital limits to calculations pursuant to regulation 53 of the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 which is applied with modifications to the remission calculations in the principal Regulations (regulation 4).

Regulation 3 amends regulation 4 of the principal Regulations to increase the income level at which recipients of tax credits are entitled to remission from charges under the principal Regulations.

Regulation 6 of the principal Regulations is amended by providing, in relation to claims for repayment of relevant charges or travelling expenses, that the claimant’s resources and requirements are to be calculated by reference to the date when the charges and expenses were paid in full.

(1)

See S.I. 1999/283 (N.I. 1) Article 3(6)

(2)

S.I. 1972/1265 (N.I. 14); relevant amending Instruments are S.I. 1988/594 (N.I. 2) Article 14 and S.I. 1991/194 (N.I. 1) Article. 34 and Part II of Schedule 5

(3)

S.R. 1989 No. 348; relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 1993 No. 161, S.R. 1995 No. 138, S.R. 1996 Nos. 107 and 425, S.R. 1997 No. 185, S.R. 1999 Nos. 166 and 395, and S.R. 2000 Nos. 102 and 339

(4)

S.I. 1972/1265 (N.I. 14); Article 36 was substituted by Article 25 of S.I. 1991/194 (N.I. 1) and then amended by paragraph 2(4) and (5) of Schedule 1 to S.I. 1992/3204 (N.I. 20); and Article 99 was substituted by Article 27 of S.I. 1991/194 (N.I. 1)

(5)

S.R. 1993 No. 127 as amended by S.R. 1996 No. 83

(6)

1992 c. 7

(7)

S.R. 1987 No. 459; paragraph (1A) was inserted into regulation 53 by regulation 11(1)(b)(ii) of S.R. 1996 No. 93