The Universal Credit (Coronavirus) (Self-employed Claimants and Reclaims) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020

Treatment of payments to self-employed universal credit claimants

2.—(1) For the purposes of regulation 57 (self-employed earnings – treatment of losses) of the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016(1)—

(a) a payment under the Self-employment Income Support Scheme is to be treated as a receipt at step 1 of the calculation of self-employed earnings in the assessment period in which the claimant receives that payment; and

(b) no deduction may be made at step 1 of that calculation in respect of expenses comprising the salary or wages paid to an employee in so far as those expenses are covered by a payment under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

(2) For the purposes of Article 10 (financial conditions) and Article 13 (calculation of awards) of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015, any payment made to a claimant carrying on a trade, profession or vocation—

(a) in relation to a furloughed employee under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; or

(b) by way of a grant or loan to meet the expenses or losses of the trade, profession or vocation in relation to the outbreak of coronavirus disease,

is to be disregarded in the calculation of the claimant’s capital for a period of 12 months from the date on which it is received.

(3) In this regulation—

“the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme” means the scheme (as it has effect from time to time) that is the subject of the direction given by the Treasury on 15th April 2020 under section 76 of the Coronavirus Act 2020(2);

“the Self-employment Income Support Scheme” means the scheme (as it has effect from time to time) that is the subject of the direction given by the Treasury on 30th April 2020 under that section of that Act.

“coronavirus disease” has the meaning given in section 1 of the Coronavirus Act 2020.

(1)

S.R.2016 No. 216. Regulation 57 was amended by regulation 6(10) of S.R. 2018 No. 92.

(2)

2020 c. 7.