The Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024

PART 1

Introductory

Citation, commencement and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 6th April 2024.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations “ the Repayment Regulations” means the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (1).

PART 2 Amendments to the Repayment Regulations

Amendment of Part 1 (general)

Amendment to regulation 3 (interpretation)

3.  In regulation 3 (interpretation) —

(a) after the definition of “repayment threshold year” insert—

“retail price index” means the RPI All Items Index published by the Office for National Statistics(2);”;

““standard interest rate” means, in relation to a loan, the greater of—

(a)

zero, or

(b)

the percentage increase in the retail price index between the two Marches immediately before the commencement of the academic year in which the loan bears interest;”;

(b) omit the definitions of the following expressions—

“the 2005 Act”;

“the 2007 Act”.

Amendment of Part 2 (Provisions Applicable to all Repayments)

Amendments to regulation 6 (interpretation)

4.  In regulation 6(3) (interpretation)—

(a) in the heading, after “Interpretation” insert “of Part 2”.

(i) after the definition of “Student Support Regulations” insert—

““total charge for credit rules” means rules made under article 60M of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001(4) for the purposes of Chapter 14A of Part 2 of that Order(5).”;

Amendments to regulation 11 (timing of repayments: general)

5.  In regulation 11(6) (timing of repayments: general)—

(a) for the heading to regulation 11 substitute “Timing and notification of repayments”.

(b) before paragraph (1) insert—

“(A1) In this regulation—

(a) paragraphs (1) to (2E) relate to the timing of repayments for a loan;

(b) paragraphs (3) to (10) relate to the notification of repayments for a student loan.”.

Amendments to regulation 16 (interest rates on the loans)

6.  In regulation 16(7) (interest rates on the loans)—

(a) in paragraph (1)—

(i) for “rules made by the Financial Conduct Authority under article 60M of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 for the purposes of Chapter 14A of Part 2 of that Order” substitute “total charge for credit rules”;

(ii) for “percentage increase between the retail prices all items index published by the Office for National Statistics for the two Marches immediately before the commencement of the academic year” substitute “standard interest rate”.

(b) in paragraph (4) for “retail prices all items index mentioned in paragraph (1)” substitute “retail price index”.

Amendment of Part 3 (Repayments by Assessment to Income Tax)

Amendments to regulation 24 (time for and amount of repayments)

7.  In regulation 24 (time for and amount of repayments) (8) —

(a) in paragraph (4) for “the 2005 Act” substitute “the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005(9)”;

(b) for paragraph (5) substitute —

“(5) In this regulation—

“the 2007 Act” means the Income Tax Act 2007(10);

“jobseeker’s allowance” means an allowance within the meaning of Part II of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(11).”.

Amendment to regulation 31 (late payment penalties)

8.  Omit regulation 31(12)(a) (including the “and” that follows it).

Amendments to regulation 35 (penalties)

9.  In regulation 35(13)—

(a) in paragraph (1)(a), omit “for the tax year 2010–11 or any subsequent tax year”;

(b) omit regulation 35(3);

(c) in paragraph (4), omit “For tax years commencing on or after 6 April 2008, where the date on which the return is due to be filed is on or after 6 April 2009,”.

Amendment of Part 4 (Deduction of Repayments by Employers)

Amendments to regulation 36 (interpretation)

10.  In regulation 36 (interpretation)(14)—

(a) in the heading to regulation 36, after “Interpretation” insert “of Part 4”;

(b) omit the definition of “Form P46”;

(c) in the definition of “non-Real Time Information employer”, for “one within regulation 36A” substitute “a Real Time Information employer”;

(d) in the definition of “Real Time Information employer”, for “regulation 36A” substitute “regulation 2A of the PAYE Regulations”.

Omission of regulation 36A (Real Time Information employer)

11.  Omit regulation 36A (Real Time Information employer).

Substitution of regulation 38 (commencement of employment with a non-Real Time Information employer) with (new employee to declare repayments liability)

12.  For regulation 38(15) (commencement of employment with a non-Real Time Information employer) substitute—

“New employee to inform employer of repayments liability

38.   A person who commences employment with an employer must inform the employer whether the person has any liability to repay a student loan.”

Omission of regulation 38A (Commencement of employment with a Real Time Information employer)

13.  Omit regulation 38A (Commencement of employment with a Real Time Information employer).

Amendments to regulation 45 (deductions of repayments)

14.  In regulation 45(16) (deductions of repayments) —

(a) in paragraph (1)—

(i) in the words before sub-paragraph (a), after “received” insert “any of the following”;

(ii) omit sub-paragraph (c) (including the “or” that follows it);

(iii) in sub-paragraph (d) for “regulation 38A” substitute “regulation 38”;

(b) in paragraph (2)—

(i) omit sub-paragraph (c) (including the “or” that follows it);

(ii) in sub-paragraph (d) for “regulation 38A” substitute “regulation 38”.

Amendment to regulation 54 (returns by employers)

15.  In regulation 54(7) (returns by employers), for “section 566(1) of the 1988 Act” substitute “section 70(1)(a) or 71 of the Finance Act 2004(17)”.

Amendments to regulation 54B (real time returns of information about payments of earnings)

16.  In regulation 54B(18) (real time returns of information about payments of earnings)—

(a) in paragraph (1) omit “but this is subject to paragraph (1A)”;

(b) omit paragraphs (1A) to (1E).

Amendments to regulation 54E (exceptions to regulation 54B)

17.  In regulation 54E(19) (exceptions to regulation 54B)—

(a) omit paragraph (2A);

(b) in paragraph (3), for “On and after 6 April 2014, the” substitute “The”.

Amendment to regulation 54G (failure to make a return under regulation 54B or 54E)

18.  In regulation 54G(20) (failure to make a return under regulation 54B or 54E) omit paragraph (5).

Amendments to regulation 62 (cessation of employment)

19.  In regulation 62(21) (cessation of employment)—

(a) omit paragraph (b);

(b) in paragraph (ba) for “regulation 38A” substitute “regulation 38”;

(c) in paragraph (c), for “(where any of paragraph (a), (b), or (ba) apply)” substitute “if paragraph (a) or (ba) apply,”.

Amendment of Part 5 (Repayment by Overseas Borrowers)

Amendments to regulation 66 (interpretation)

20.  In regulation 66(22) (interpretation)—

(a) in the heading after “Interpretation” insert “of Part 5”.;

(b) after “In this Part—” insert—

““country” includes territory;

“country-specific multiplier” means the country-specific multiplier calculated in accordance with regulation 66A;”

Insertion of regulation 66A (How to calculate country-specific multiplier)

21.  After regulation 66(interpretation) insert—

“How to calculate country-specific multiplier

66A.— (1) The country-specific multiplier for a country is the multiplier specified in the table in relation to its band.

(2) The band for a country is the band specified in the table in relation to its price level index value.

Price level index value (x)	Band	Multiplier
x<0.3	A	0.2
0.3≤x<0.5	B	0.4
0.5≤x<0.7	C	0.6
0.7≤x<0.9	D	0.8
0.9≤x<1.1	E	1.0
1.1≤x<1.3	F	1.2
x≥1.3	G	1.4

(3) The price level index value for a country is the quotient of—

(a) the price level value for the country in the most recent year available, and

(b) the price level value for the United Kingdom in the same year.

Example
0.736687 is the country’s price level value and 1.058064 is the United Kingdom’s price level value. 0.736687 divided by 1.058064 is 0.696259…‬ (unrounded). The price level index value for the country is 0.696259…, which is Band C. The country-specific multiplier for a country in Band C is 0.6.

(4) If the price level value for a country is not published, the Department may determine the price level value for that country by reference to a comparable country.

(5) In this regulation, “price level value” means the value published by the World Bank in its “Price level ratio of PPP conversion factor (GDP) to market exchange rate” world development indicator(23).”

Status of examples

66B.— (1) An example used in these Regulations—

(a) is only illustrative of the provision to which it relates, and

(b) does not limit the provision.

(2) If an example and the provision to which it relates are inconsistent, the provision prevails.”.

Amendments to regulation 69 (repayment by fixed instalments)

22.  In regulation 69 (repayment by fixed instalments) —

(a) the existing text of regulation 69 is renumbered as paragraph (1);

(b) in regulation 69(1), omit “calculated in accordance with regulation 71”;

(c) After regulation 69(1) insert—

“(2) The amount of the fixed instalment is the product of—

(a) the fixed instalment rate for the borrower’s loan, and

(b) the country-specific multiplier for the borrower’s country of residence.

(3) The fixed instalment rate for the student loan is calculated in accordance with regulation 69A.”

Insertion of regulation 69A (how to calculate fixed instalment rate)

23.  After regulation 69 (repayments by fixed instalments) insert—

“How to calculate fixed instalment rate

69A.— (1) The fixed instalment rate for a student loan is the result of the formula—

(a) calculated on the 6th of April of each year, and

(b) rounded down to the nearest £1 (if necessary).

(2) In the formula—

“x” means the median salary for graduates (to the nearest £500) in the most-recent year published by the Department for Education(24);

“y” means the repayment threshold for the student loan as calculated under Regulation 24(6).”

Amendments to regulation 70 (repayment by income-related instalments)

24.  In regulation 70(25) (repayment by income-related instalments)—

(a) for paragraph (4) substitute —

“(4) The relevant amount is 9% of the gross income which the Department consider the borrower is likely to receive in the next 12 month period following the date of the determination referred to in paragraph (2), disregarding—

(a) income up to the applicable threshold, calculated in accordance with regulation 70A; and

(b) income in respect of which the Department is satisfied that repayments are likely to be made under Part 3 or 4.”

(b) in paragraph (5) for “the instalment”, substitute “each instalment”.

Insertion of regulation 70A (how to calculate applicable threshold)

25.  After regulation 70 (repayment by income-related instalments) insert—

“How to calculate applicable threshold

70A.   The applicable threshold is, in relation to a borrower’s loan, the amount—

(a) rounded up to the nearest £5 (if necessary), and

(b) being the product of—

(i) the repayment threshold for the loan, and

(ii) the country-specific multiplier for the borrower’s country of residence.”.

Omission of regulation 71 (calculation of fixed instalment and applicable threshold)

26.  Omit regulation 71 (calculation of fixed instalment and applicable threshold).

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for the Economy on 13th March 2024.

Mr Mark Lee

A senior officer of the Department for the Economy