1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Preparation for Employment Programme 50 to 59 Pilot) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 and shall come into operation on 1st April 2007.
(2) These Regulations shall cease to have effect on 31st March 2008 unless revoked with effect from an earlier date.
2.—(1) In these Regulations——
“office” means an office of the Department or of the Department for Employment and Learning,
“benefit” means a jobseeker’s allowance or any earnings credited to a person in accordance with regulation 8A of the Social Security (Credits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1975(1),
“the Jobseeker’s Regulations” means the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(2).
(2) In respect of any period throughout which a member of a joint-claim couple is receiving a joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance, the other member of that couple shall, for the purposes of regulation 3(3)(c), also be treated as receiving benefit throughout that period.
3.—(1) In relation to a person to whom paragraph (2) applies, regulation 75(1)(a)(v)(3) of the Jobseeker’s Regulations (interpretation) shall be modified to the extent that for “any one individual aged 25 years or over and less than 50 years” there shall be substituted “any one individual aged 50 years or over and less than 60 years”
(2) This paragraph shall apply to any person who meets the conditions specified in paragraph (3) and who is selected by an employment officer to participate in the Preparation for Employment Programme as specified in regulation 75(1)(a)(v) of the Jobseeker’s Regulations as modified by paragraph (1).
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) the conditions are that he is a person——
(a)who, between 1st April 2007 and 31st March 2008 attends an office pursuant to a notification given or sent under regulation 23(4) or 23A(5) of the Jobseeker’s Regulations;
(b)who, on the day he so attends, is aged 50 years or over and less than 60;
(c)who has been receiving benefit for a cumulative period of at least 18 months in the previous 21 months, and
(d)who has been given or sent a notice in writing by an employment officer notifying him of a place on the Preparation for Employment Programme as specified in regulation 75(1) (a)(v) of the Jobseeker’s Regulations as modified by paragraph (1), and advising him that if he fails to participate in that programme, his jobseeker’s allowance could cease to be payable or could be paid at a lower rate.
4. References in these Regulations to a person to whom regulation 3(2) applies shall include a person to whom regulation 3(2) of the Social Security (Preparation for Employment Programme 50 to 59 Pilot) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006(6) applied immediately before those Regulations expire.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 28th February 2007
(L.S.)
John O’Neill
A senior officer of the Department for Social Development