The Social Security (Residential Care Homes, Nursing Homes and Independent Hospitals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Residential Care Homes, Nursing Homes and Independent Hospitals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 14th November 2005.

(2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(1) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

Amendment of the Social Fund (Maternity and Funeral Expenses) (General) Regulations

2.  In regulation 2(1A) of the Social Fund (Maternity and Funeral Expenses) (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(2) (interpretation)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (a) for “residential accommodation, residential care home or nursing home” there shall be substituted “residential care home, nursing home, Abbeyfield Home or independent hospital”, and

(b) in sub-paragraph (b) and at the end of paragraph (1A) for “accommodation or home” there shall be substituted “home or hospital”.

Amendment of the Income Support (General) Regulations

3.  The Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(3) shall be amended in accordance with Schedule 1.

Amendment of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations

4.—(1) The Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(4) shall be amended in accordance with Schedule 2.

(2) The amendments made by paragraphs 1(a)(ii), 6(a) and (b) and 8 of Schedule 2 to these Regulations are to the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 as modified in their application to persons to whom regulation 2 of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(5) applies.

Amendment of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations

5.—(1) The Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(6) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) Regulation 34B(7) (transitional provisions for persons in hostels or certain residential accommodation) shall be omitted.

(3) In Schedule 8A(8) (deductions from benefits and direct payment to third parties)—

(a) in paragraph 1 (interpretation) for the definition of “hostel”(9) there shall be substituted the following definition—

““hostel” means an establishment—

(a)

in which there is provided for persons generally, or for a class of persons, accommodation, otherwise than in separate and self-contained premises, and either board or facilities of a kind set out in paragraph 4A(1)(d) adequate to the needs of those persons; and—

(b)

which is—

(i)

managed by or owned by a housing association registered with the Department of the Environment in accordance with Article 124 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(10);

(ii)

operated other than on a commercial basis and in respect of which funds are provided wholly or in part by a government department or public body, or

(iii)

managed by a voluntary organisation or charity and provides care, support or supervision with a view to assisting those persons to be rehabilitated or resettled within the community;

(c)

which is not—

(i)

a residential care home;

(ii)

a nursing home;

(iii)

an independent hospital, or

(iv)

an establishment run by the Abbeyfield Society including all bodies corporate or incorporate which are affiliated to that Society;

(d)

in sub-paragraph (b)(iii) a “voluntary organisation” means any association carrying on any activities otherwise than for the purpose of gain by the association or by individual members thereof, but shall not include any public body;

(e)

in sub-paragraph (c)—

(i)

“independent hospital” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003;

(ii)

“nursing home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 11 of that Order;

(iii)

“residential care home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 10 of that Order;”;

(b) in paragraph 4(11) (miscellaneous accommodation costs)—

(i) in sub-paragraph (1)(12)—

(aa) in head (a) for “in a residential care home or nursing home” there shall be substituted “residing in a residential care home, nursing home, an Abbeyfield Home or an independent hospital”;

(bb) in head (b) sub-heads (i) and (ii) shall be omitted;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (2)(13) for head (a) there shall be substituted the following head—

“(a) in a case where a beneficiary is not in accommodation as specified in regulation 15(7)(c) of the State Pension Credit Regulations, an amount equal to the award of income support, jobseeker’s allowance, or guarantee credit payable to the claimant but excluding an amount, if any, which when added to any other income of the beneficiary as determined in accordance with regulation 28 of the Income Support Regulations, regulation 93 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations or regulation 17 of the State Pension Credit Regulations will equal the amount prescribed in respect of personal expenses in sub-paragraph (2A), and”.

Amendment of the Social Fund (Cold Weather Payments) (General) Regulations

6.  In regulation 1A of the Social Fund (Cold Weather Payments) (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988(14) (prescribed description of persons), for paragraph (2) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—

“(2) Paragraph (1)(a), (aa) and (ab) shall not apply to a person who resides in—

(a) a residential care home or a nursing home;

(b) an independent hospital, or

(c) an establishment run by the Abbeyfield Society including all bodies corporate or incorporate which are affiliated to that Society.

(3) In paragraph (2)—

(a) “independent hospital” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003(15);

(b) “nursing home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 11 of that Order;

(c) “residential care home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 10 of that Order.”.

Amendment of the Social Security (Attendance Allowance) Regulations

7.  In regulation 7 of the Social Security (Attendance Allowance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992(16) (persons in certain accommodation other than hospitals)—

(a) in paragraph (5)(c) for “residential homes” there shall be substituted “residential care homes, nursing homes or independent hospitals”, and

(b) after paragraph (5) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“(6) In paragraph (5)—

“independent hospital” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003;

“nursing home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 11 of that Order;

“residential care home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 10 of that Order.”.

Amendment of the Social Security (Disability Living Allowance) Regulations

8.  In regulation 9 of the Social Security (Disability Living Allowance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992(17) (persons in certain accommodation other than hospitals)—

(a) in paragraph (8)(c) for “residential homes” there shall be substituted “residential care homes, nursing homes or independent hospitals”, and

(b) after paragraph (8) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“(9) In paragraph (8)—

“independent hospital” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003;

“nursing home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 11 of that Order;

“residential care home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 10 of that Order.”.

Amendment of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations

9.  The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(18) shall be amended in accordance with Schedule 3.

Amendment of the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations

10.  In regulation 1 of the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000(19) (citation, commencement and interpretation)—

(a) in paragraph (2)—

(i) after the definition of “the Income Support Regulations” there shall be inserted the following definition—

““independent hospital” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003;”;

(ii) for the definition of “nursing home”(20) there shall be substituted the following definition—

““nursing home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 11 of that Order;”;

(iii) the definition of “residential accommodation” shall be omitted;

(iv) after the definition of “partner” there shall be inserted the following definition—

““residential care home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 10 of that Order;”;

(b) in paragraph (3)(21)—

(i) “Subject to paragraph (3A),” shall be omitted;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (a)(iii) for “residential accommodation” there shall be substituted “an independent hospital”;

(c) paragraph (3A)(22) shall be omitted.

Amendment of the Social Security (Loss of Benefit) Regulations

11.—(1) The Social Security (Loss of Benefit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002(23) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) In regulation 5(4) (meaning of “person in hardship”) for “or nursing home” there shall be substituted “, nursing home, an Abbeyfield Home or an independent hospital”.

(3) In regulation 11(5) (application of Part and meaning of “couple in hardship”) for “or nursing home” there shall be substituted “, nursing home, an Abbeyfield Home or an independent hospital”.

Amendment of the State Pension Credit Regulations

12.  The State Pension Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(24) shall be amended in accordance with Schedule 4.

Revocations

13.  The regulations specified in column (1) of Schedule 5 are revoked to the extent mentioned in column (3).

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 20th October 2005.

L.S.

John O'Neill

A senior officer of the

Department for Social Development

The Department of Finance and Personnel hereby consents to regulation 4 and Schedule 2 of the foregoing Regulations.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel on 20th October 2005.

L.S.

Jack Layberry

A senior officer of the

Department of Finance and Personnel