The Social Security (Child Maintenance Premium and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Child Maintenance Premium and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 and shall come into operation, in relation to any particular case, on the date on which section 22 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000(1) comes into operation in relation to that type of case (“the commencement date”).

(2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(2) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

Child maintenance: income support and jobseeker’s allowance

2.—(1) In the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(3)—

(a) in regulation 60A(4) (interpretation) at the end of the definition of “child support maintenance” there shall be added “and shall include any payments made by the Department in lieu of such payments”; and

(b) in Schedule 9 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) after paragraph 68(5) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“69.— (1) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), any payment of child maintenance, whether under a court order or not, which is made or due to be made by the parent of a child or young person where that child or young person is a member of the claimant’s family except where that parent is the claimant or the claimant’s partner.

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), where more than one payment of child maintenance falls to be taken into account in any week, all such payments shall be aggregated and treated as if they were a single payment.

(3) No more than £10 shall be disregarded in any week pursuant to this paragraph.

(4) In this paragraph, “child maintenance” shall have the same meaning as that prescribed for the purposes of section 72A of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(6) and shall include any payment made by the Department in lieu of such maintenance.”.

(2) In the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(7)—

(a) in regulation 125 (interpretation) at the end of the definition of “child support maintenance” there shall be added “and shall include any payments made by the Department in lieu of such payments”; and

(b) in Schedule 6 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) after paragraph 65(8) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“66.— (1) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), any payment of child maintenance, whether under a court order or not, which is made or due to be made by the parent of a child or young person where that child or young person is a member of the claimant’s family except where that parent is the claimant or the claimant’s partner.

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), where more than one payment of child maintenance falls to be taken into account in any week, all such payments shall be aggregated and treated as if they were a single payment.

(3) No more than £10 shall be disregarded in any week pursuant to this paragraph.

(4) In this paragraph, “child maintenance” shall have the same meaning as that prescribed for the purposes of section 72A of the Administration Act and shall include any payment made by the Department in lieu of such maintenance.”.

Housing benefit

3.  In Schedule 4 to the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(9) (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) in paragraph 50, after sub-paragraph (2) there shall be added the following sub-paragraph—

“(3) A payment made by the Department in lieu of maintenance shall, for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), be treated as a payment of maintenance made by a person specified in head (a) or (b) of that sub-paragraph.”.

Revocations and transitional provisions

4.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (4)—

(a) regulations 2 to 13 of the Social Security (Child Maintenance Bonus) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(10) (“the Child Maintenance Bonus Regulations”);

(b) the Child Maintenance Bonus (Great Britain Reciprocal Arrangements) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997(11) (“the Reciprocal Arrangements Regulations”);

(c) regulation 8 of the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997(12);

(d) regulation 2 of the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998(13),

are hereby revoked.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), regulations 2 to 13 of the Child Maintenance Bonus Regulations and the Reciprocal Arrangements Regulations shall continue to have effect as if paragraph (1) had not been made in relation to a person who—

(a) claimed a child maintenance bonus before the commencement date but whose claim was not determined until on or after that date; or

(b) claims a child maintenance bonus on or after the commencement date but within the time specified in regulations 3(1)(f)(14), 10(1)(15) and, where applicable, 11(4) of the Child Maintenance Bonus Regulations.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), regulation 3(1)(f)(iii) of the Child Maintenance Bonus Regulations shall have effect as if for “14 days” there were substituted “one month”.

(4) Nothing in this regulation shall prevent the Department from issuing a written statement pursuant to regulation 6(1)(16) of the Child Maintenance Bonus Regulations to a person who appears to it to satisfy the requirements of regulation 3 of those Regulations.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 23rd January 2001.

L.S.

John O'Neill

Senior Officer of the

Department for Social Development

The Department of Finance and Personnel hereby consents to regulation 3 of the foregoing Regulations.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel on 23rd January 2001.

L.S.

Brian Delaney

Senior Officer of the

Department of Finance and Personnel