The Social Security (Lone Parents and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

Savings and transitional provisions applicable to certain lone parents following a full-time course

7.—(1) This regulation applies to a lone parent if the following conditions are met.

(2) The first condition is that—

(a) immediately before the specified day the lone parent was entitled to income support and fell within paragraph 1 (lone parents) of Schedule 1B (prescribed categories of person) to the Income Support Regulations;

(b) no other paragraph of Schedule 1B applies to the lone parent; and

(c) on and after the specified day, the lone parent is responsible for and a member of the same household as—

(i) a single child aged 5 or over, or

(ii) more than one child where the youngest child is aged 5 or over.

(3) The second condition is that immediately before the specified day, and on and after that day, the lone parent is also—

(a) a full-time student attending or undertaking a full-time course of advanced education, a full-time course of study or a sandwich course, or

(b) following a full-time course of training or instruction provided pursuant to arrangements made by the Department for Employment and Learning or pursuant to a scheme which has been approved by the Department for Employment and Learning as supporting the objectives set out in section 1 of the Employment and Training Act (Northern Ireland) 1950(1).

(4) This regulation does not apply, or (as the case may be) it ceases to apply, to a lone parent if the lone parent makes a further claim for income support on or after the specified day.

(5) Where this regulation applies to a lone parent—

(a) paragraph 1 of Schedule 1B to the Income Support Regulations as in operation in relation to the lone parent at the beginning of the period of study referred to in paragraph (3)(a) shall continue to have effect in relation to the lone parent for so long as the lone parent remains a full-time student;

(b) paragraph 1 of Schedule 1B to the Income Support Regulations as in operation at the beginning of the particular course of training or instruction referred to in paragraph (3)(b) shall continue to have effect in relation to the lone parent for so long as the lone parent is following that full-time course; and

(c) any requirement to take part in a work-focused interview every 13 weeks in accordance with regulation 2ZA of the Lone Parents Regulations or regulation 3A of the Work-focused Interviews Regulations shall continue to apply in relation to the lone parent at a time when, apart from this paragraph, the requirement would cease to apply because the lone parent’s child’s or youngest child’s, age exceeds the age specified in those regulations.

(6) For the purposes of this regulation—

“full-time student” and “sandwich course” each have the same meaning as in regulation 61 of the Income Support Regulations;

“period of study” has the same meaning as in regulation 2(1) of the Income Support Regulations;

“specified day” means 16th January 2017.

(1)

1950 c. 29.