The Welfare Reform (2007 Act) (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Savings Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2008

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

Article 2 of this Order provides for the coming into operation of the following provisions of the Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2007—

• section 39 (information relating to certain benefits), for the purpose only of authorising the making of orders or regulations, on 8th August 2008 and for all other purposes, together with consequential repeals, on 1st September 2008;

• section 40 (unlawful disclosure of certain information), on 1st September 2008; and

• sections 46 and 47 (widowed mother’s allowance and widowed parent’s allowance) and consequential repeals, on 7th October 2008.

Article 3 makes transitional and savings provisions—

• to provide that where persons have been supplied with information pursuant to Article 6 of the Housing Support Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2002—

  • under Article 6(3) and (4) of that Order they will continue to be permitted to supply that information to persons providing housing support services; and

  • under Article 7 of that Order it will remain an offence for them, in certain circumstances, to disclose that information without lawful authority (paragraphs (1) and (2)); and

• for the continuing application of sections 37 and 39A of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 relating to entitlement to widowed mother’s allowance and widowed parent’s allowance for certain cases (paragraph (3)).