The State Pension (Amendment No. 3) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the State Pension Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 (“the 2015 Regulations”). Regulation 2 adds Part 8 to the 2015 Regulations which contains provisions (in regulations 24 to 39) relating to the crediting of national insurance contributions for the purposes of entitlement to a new state pension under Part 1 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 (“the 2015 Act”).

In Chapter 1 of Part 8, regulation 24 is an interpretation provision.

Regulation 25 contains general provisions governing the circumstances in which credits are awarded.

In Chapter 2 of Part 8, regulations 26 to 28 provide for certain earnings or contributions credited in respect of a period before 6 April 2016 to be included in the calculation of the person’s starting amount under Schedule 1 to the 2015 Act.

In Chapter 3 of Part 8, regulations 29 to 37 set out the particular circumstances in which a person is eligible to be awarded a credit. These include where a person is—

• entitled to a working age benefit or a working tax credit;

• a man who was born before 6 October 1953;

• the spouse or civil partner of a member of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces;

• a carer for a child under the age of 12 (including a foster parent); or

• caring for a person who is either in receipt of a relevant disability benefit or who is certified by a health or social care professional as needing the level of care provided.

Regulation 38 enables certain carers to be awarded a credit for an additional period of 12 weeks.

These regulations also specify the conditions which must be satisfied in order for the person to be entitled to the credit.

Regulation 39 specifies the time limit in which parents or carers are required to make an application for a contribution credit.

Section 22(5ZA) and (5ZB) of the Contributions and Benefits Act, an enabling provision under which these Regulations are made, was inserted by paragraph 6(3) of Schedule 12 to the 2015 Act. Paragraph 6(3) of Schedule 12 was brought into operation for the purposes of making regulations on 25 February 2016 by the Pensions (2015 Act) (Commencement No. 3) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016 No. 68 (C. 4)).

These Regulations make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8), are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.