Housing Renewal Grants (Reduction of Grant) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations –

“adoption leave” means a period of absence from work on ordinary or additional adoption leave under Article 107A or 107B of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996(1);

“application” means an application within Article 61 or 62 of the Order or, as the case may be, Article 73 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992;

“assessment period” means such period as is prescribed in regulations 21 to 23 over which income falls to be determined;

“attendance allowance” means –

(a)

an attendance allowance under section 64 of the 1992 Act(2);

(b)

an increase of disablement pension under section 104 or 105 of that Act;

(c)

a payment under regulations made in exercise of the power conferred by paragraph 4(2)(b) of Schedule 8 to that Act;

(d)

a payment analogous to a payment by way of an increase of an allowance payable in respect of constant attendance under paragraph 4 of Schedule 8 to the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(3);

(e)

a payment by virtue of Article 14, 15, 16, 43 or 44 of the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983(4) or any analogous payment;

(f)

any payment based on need for attendance which is paid as part of a war disablement pension;

“benefit week” means a period of 7 consecutive days commencing upon a Monday and ending on a Sunday;

“carer’s allowance” means a carer’s allowance under section 70(5) of the 1992 Act;

“charity” has the meaning given by section 35 of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 1964(6), and “charitable body” shall be construed accordingly;

“child” means a person under the age of 16;

“child benefit” means a child benefit under Part IX of the 1992 Act;

“child tax credit” means a child tax credit under section 8 of the Tax Credits Act 2002(7);

“close relative” means a parent, parent-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-parent, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister, or the spouse of any of the preceding persons or, if that person is one of an unmarried couple, the other member of that couple;

“concessionary payment” means a payment made under arrangements made by the Department for Social Development, with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel, which is charged either to the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund or to a Departmental Expenditure Vote to which payments of benefit under the 1992 Act are charged;

“Crown property” means property held by Her Majesty in right of the Crown or by a government department or which is held in trust for Her Majesty for the purposes of a government department, except (in the case of an interest held by Her Majesty in right of the Crown) where the interest is held under the management of the Crown Estate Commissioners;

“Crown Estate Commissioners” have the same meaning as in the Interpretation Act 1978(8);

“disability living allowance” means a disability living allowance under section 71 of the 1992 Act;

“earnings” has the meaning assigned by regulation 25 or, as the case may be, 27;

“education and library board” means an education and library board established under Article 3 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986(9);

“the Eileen Trust” means the charitable trust of that name established on 29th March 1993 out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for Social Security for the benefit of persons eligible for payment in accordance with its provisions;

“employed earner” means a person who is gainfully employed in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland either under a contract of service, or in an office (including elective office) with emoluments chargeable to income tax under Schedule E or, as the case may be, chargeable under the legislation of the Republic of Ireland which is analogous to income tax under Schedule E, and also includes a person who is in receipt of a payment which is payable under any statutory provision having effect in Great Britain and which corresponds to statutory sick pay or statutory maternity pay(10);

“family” means –

(a)

a married or unmarried couple;

(b)

a married or unmarried couple and a member of the same household for whom one of them is, or both are, responsible and who is a child or a young person;

(c)

a person who is not a member of a married or unmarried couple and a member of the same household for whom that person is responsible and who is a child or a young person;

“the Fund” means moneys made available from time to time by the Secretary of State for the benefit of persons eligible for payment in accordance with the provisions of a scheme established by him on 24th April 1992, or in Scotland, on 10th April 1992;

“guarantee credit” shall be construed in accordance with sections 1 and 2 of the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002(11);

“Health and Social Services Board” means a Board established under Article 16 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(12);

“higher rate” where it relates to rates of tax means any rate of income tax determined in pursuance of section 1(2)(b) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988(13);

“housing benefit” means housing benefit under Part VII of the 1992 Act;

“incapacity benefit” means short-term incapacity benefit or long-term incapacity benefit under section 30A of the 1992 Act(14) (incapacity benefit: entitlement);

“income-based jobseeker’s allowance” and “a joint claim jobseeker’s allowance” have the same meaning as they have in Article 3(4) of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(15);

“income-related benefit” means any benefit to which section 122(1) of the 1992 Act refers;

“income support” means income support under Part VII of the 1992 Act;

“the Independent Living Fund” means the charitable trust established out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for the purpose of providing financial assistance to those persons incapacitated by, or otherwise suffering from, very severe disablement who are in need of such assistance to enable them to live independently;

“the Independent Living (Extension) Fund” means the Trust of that name established by a deed dated 25th February 1993 and made between the Secretary of State for Social Security of the one part and Robin Glover Wendt and John Fletcher Shepherd of the other part;

“the Independent Living (1993) Fund” means the Trust of that name established by a deed dated 25th February 1993 and made between the Secretary of State for Social Security of the one part and Robin Glover Wendt and John Fletcher Shepherd of the other part;

“the Independent Living Funds” means the Independent Living Fund, the Independent Living (Extension) Fund and the Independent Living (1993) Fund;

“invalid carriage or other vehicle” means a vehicle propelled by petrol engine or electric power supplied for use on the road and to be controlled by the occupant;

“the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations” means the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(16);

“lone parent” means a person who has no partner and who is responsible for and a member of the same household as a child or young person;

“long-term incapacity benefit” means long-term incapacity benefit under Part II of the 1992 Act;

“lower rate” where it relates to rates of tax has the same meaning as in the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 by virtue of section 832(1) of that Act(17);

“the Macfarlane Trust” means the charitable trust, established partly out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for Social Security to the Haemophilia Society, for the relief of poverty or distress among those suffering from haemophilia;

“the Macfarlane (Special Payments) (No. 2) Trust” means the trust of that name, established on 3rd May 1991, partly out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for Social Security for the benefit of certain persons suffering from haemophilia and other beneficiaries;

“the Macfarlane (Special Payments) Trust” means the trust of that name, established on 29th January 1990, partly out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for Social Security for the benefit of certain persons suffering from haemophilia;

“married couple”, except in regulation 11(2)(b), paragraph 12(b) of Schedule 2, paragraph 4(b) of Schedule 3 and paragraph 6(b) of Schedule 4, has the meaning assigned to it by section 133 of the 1992 Act;

“maternity leave” means a period during which a woman is absent from work because she is pregnant or has given birth to a child, and at the end of which she has a right to return to work either under the terms of her contract of employment or under Part IX of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996(18);

“member of a couple” means a member of a married or unmarried couple;

“mobility supplement” means a supplement to which paragraph 7 of Schedule 3 refers;

“net earnings” means such earnings as are determined in accordance with regulation 26;

“net profit” means such profit as is determined in accordance with regulation 28;

“the New Deal Options” means the employment programmes specified in regulation 75(1)(a)(i) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations and the training scheme specified in regulation 75(1)(b)(ii) of those Regulations;

“non-dependant” has the meaning assigned by regulation 7;

“occupational pension” means any pension or other periodical payment under an occupational pension scheme but does not include any discretionary payment out of a fund established for relieving hardship in particular cases;

“the Order” means the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 2003;

“partner” means –

(a)

where a person is a member of a married or unmarried couple, the other member of that couple; or

(b)

where a person is polygamously married to two or more members of his household, any such member;

“parental leave” means maternity leave, paternity leave or adoption leave;

“paternity leave” means a period of absence from work on leave under Article 112A or 112B of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996(19);

“payment” includes part of a payment;

“pension fund holder” means with respect to a personal pension scheme or retirement annuity contract, the trustees, managers or scheme administrators, as the case may be, of the scheme or contract concerned;

“personal pension scheme” has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993(20) and, in the case of a self-employed earner, includes a scheme approved by the Board of Inland Revenue under Chapter IV of Part XIV of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988(21);

“policy of life insurance” means any instrument by which the payment of money is assured on death (except death by accident only) or the happening of any contingency dependent on human life, or any instrument evidencing a contract which is subject to payment of premiums for a term dependent on human life;

“polygamous marriage” means any marriage during the subsistence of which a party to it is married to more than one person and the ceremony of marriage took place under the law of a country which permits polygamy;

“Preparation for Employment Programme” means the programme known by that name as defined for the purposes of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations in regulation 75(i)(a)(v)(22) of those Regulations;

“Preparation for Employment Programme for 50 plus” means the programme known by that name as defined for the purposes of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations in regulation 1(2)(23) of those Regulations;

“qualifying person” means a person in respect of whom payment has been made from the Fund;

“rates” has the same meaning as in the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977(24);

“relevant person” has the meaning assigned by regulation 6;

“remunerative work” has the meaning assigned by regulation 8;

“a retirement annuity contract” means a contract or trust scheme approved under Chapter III of Part XIV of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988;

“self-employed earner” means a person who is gainfully employed in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland otherwise than in employed earner’s employment (whether or not he is also employed in such employment);

“short-term incapacity benefit” means short-term incapacity benefit under Part II of the 1992 Act;

“single person” means a person who neither has a partner nor is a lone parent;

“social fund payment” means a payment under section 134 of the 1992 Act;

“sports award” means an award made by one of the Sports Councils named in section 23(2) of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993(25) out of sums allocated to it for distribution under that section;

“state pension credit” has the same meaning as in the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002(26);

“statutory maternity pay” means a statutory maternity pay under Part XII of the 1992 Act;

“statutory sick pay” means statutory sick pay under Part XI of the 1992 Act;

“student” has the meaning assigned by regulation 42;

“the 1992 Act” means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(27);

“training allowance” means an allowance (whether by way of periodical grants or otherwise) payable –

(a)

out of public funds by a government department or by or on behalf of the Department for Employment and Learning;

(b)

to a person for his maintence or in respect of a member of his family, and

(c)

for the period, or part of the period, during which he is following a course of training or instruction provided by, or in pursuance of arrangements made with, a government department or approved by such department in relation to him or so provided or approved by or on behalf of the Department for Employment and Learning,

but it does not include an allowance paid by any government department to, or in respect of, a person by reason of the fact that he is following a course of full-time education, other than under arrangements provided under section 1(1) of the Employment and Training Act (Northern Ireland) 1950(28) or is training as a teacher;

“unmarried couple” means, except in regulation 11(2)(b), paragraph 12(b) of Schedule 2, paragraph 4(b) of Schedule 3 and paragraph 6(b) of Schedule 4, two persons who are living together as if they were husband and wife;

“voluntary organisation” means any association carrying on any activities otherwise than for the purpose of gain by the association or by individual members;

“war disablement pension” has the meaning assigned by section 146(2) of the 1992 Act;

“war widow’s pension” has the meaning assigned by section 146(2) of the 1992 Act;

“war widower’s pension” means any widower’s pension or allowance granted in respect of a death due to service or war injury and payable by virtue of the Air Force (Constitution) Act 1917(29), the Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act 1939(30), the Pensions (Navy, Army, Air Force and Mercantile Marine) Act 1939(31), the Polish Resettlement Act 1947(32) or Part 7 or section 151 of the Reserve Forces Act 1980(33);

“working tax credit” means a working tax credit under section 10 of the Tax Credits Act 2002.

“year of assessment” has the meaning assigned by section 832(1) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988;

“young person” means a person, not being a person who is in receipt of income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance or a person who is receiving advanced education within the meaning of regulation 12(2) of the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(34) (relevant education), aged 16 or over but under 19 who is treated as a child for the purposes of section 138 of the 1992 Act (meaning of child).

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, two persons shall be taken to be estranged only if their estrangement constitutes a breakdown of the relationship between them.

(3) For the purposes of these Regulations, a person is on an income-based jobseeker’s allowance on any day in respect of which an income-based jobseeker’s allowance is payable to him and on any day –

(a) in respect of which he satisfies the conditions for entitlement to an income-based jobseeker’s allowance but where the allowance is not paid in accordance with Article 21 of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(35) (circumstances in which a jobseeker’s allowance is not payable), or

(b) which is a waiting day for the purposes of paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to that Order and which falls immediately before a day in respect of which an income-based jobseeker’s allowance is payable to him but for Article 21 of that Order.

(1)

S.I. 1996/1919 (N.I. 16); Articles 107A and 107B were inserted by Article 3 of the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2836 (N.I. 2))

(2)

Section 64 was amended by Article 63(1) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11))

(3)

1992 c. 4

(4)

S.I. 1983/686; the relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1984/1675 and S.I. 2001/420

(5)

Section 70 was amended by Article 2(a)(iii) and Article 3 of the Deregulation (Carer’s Allowance) Order (Northern Ireland) 2002 (S.R. 2002 No. 321)

(6)

1964 c. 33 (N.I.); to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations

(7)

2002 c. 21

(8)

1978 c. 30

(9)

S.I. 1986/594 (N.I. 3); to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations

(10)

See the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (c. 4), Parts XI and XII

(11)

2002 c. 14 (N.I.)

(12)

S.I. 1972/1265 (N.I. 14)

(13)

1988 c. 1; section 1(2)(b) was substituted by section 24(2)(a) of the Finance Act 1988 (c. 39) and amended by Article 2(2)(b) of the Income Tax (Indexation) Order 1993 (S.I. 1993/755)

(14)

Section 30A was inserted by Article 3(1) of the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/1898 (N.I. 12))

(15)

S.I. 1995/2705 (N.I. 15); the definition of “a joint claim jobseeker’s allowance” was inserted by paragraph 3(4) of Schedule 7 to the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11))

(16)

S.R. 1996 No. 198; the relevant amending regulations are S.R. 1997 No. 541, S.R. 1998 No. 182, S.R. 1998 No. 198, S.R. 1998 No. 541, S.R. 1999 No. 467, S.R. 2000 No. 197 and S.R. 2001 No. 151

(17)

1988 c. 1; the definition of “lower rate” was inserted by section 9(9) of the Finance Act 1992 (c. 20)

(18)

S.I. 1996/1919 (N.I. 16); to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations

(19)

Articles 112A and 112B were inserted by Article 4 of the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2836 (N.I. 2))

(20)

1993 c. 49

(21)

1988 c. 1

(22)

Head (v) was inserted by S.R. 2001 No. 151

(23)

The definition of the “Preparation for Employment Programme for 50 plus” was inserted by S.R. 2001 No. 151

(24)

S.I. 1977/2157 (N.I. 28); as amended by Article 3(2) of the Rates (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/421 (N.I. 7))

(25)

1993 c. 39

(26)

See section 1(1) of the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002

(27)

1992 c. 7

(28)

1950 c. 29 (N.I.); section 1(1) was substituted by Article 3 of the Employment and Training (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 (S.I. 1988/1087 (N.I. 10))

(29)

1917 c. 51

(30)

1939 c. 82

(31)

1939 c. 83

(32)

1947 c. 19

(33)

1980 c. 9

(34)

S.R. 1987 No. 459; relevant amending regulations are S.R. 1990 No. 131, S.R. 1992 No. 403 and S.R. 1993 No. 373

(35)

S.I. 1995/2705 (N.I. 15); relevant amending order is S.I. 1998/1506 (N.I. 10)