Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992

150 Cases in which consultation with Committee is not required

(1) Nothing in any statutory provision shall require any proposals in respect of regulations to be referred to the Committee if—

(a) it appears to the Department that by reason of the urgency of the matter it is inexpedient so to refer them; or

(b) the Committee has agreed that they shall not be referred.

(2) Where by virtue only of subsection (1)(a) above the Department makes regulations without proposals in respect of them having been referred, then, unless the Committee agrees that this subsection shall not apply, the Department shall refer the regulations as soon as practicable after making them.

(3) Where the Department has referred proposals to the Committee, the Department may make the proposed regulations before the Committee has made its report only if after the reference it appears to the Department that by reason of the urgency of the matter it is expedient to do so.

(4) Where by virtue of this section regulations are made before a report of the Committee has been made, the Committee shall consider them and make a report to the Department containing such recommendations with regard to the regulations as the Committee thinks appropriate; and a copy of any report made to the Department on the regulations shall be laid by it before the Assembly together, if the report contains recommendations, with a statement—

(a) of the extent (if any) to which the Department proposes to give effect to the recommendations; and

(b) in so far as it does not propose to give effect to them, of its reasons why not.

(5) Except to the extent that this subsection is excluded by a statutory provision passed or made after 5th November 1986, nothing in any statutory provision shall require the reference to the Committee of any regulations contained in either—

(a) a statutory rule made before the end of the period of 6 months beginning with the coming into operation of the statutory provision under which those regulations are made; or

(b) a statutory rule—

(i) which states that it contains only regulations made by virtue of, or consequential upon, a specified statutory provision; and

(ii) which is made before the end of the period of 6 months beginning with the coming into operation of that specified statutory provision.

(6) In this section and in section 151 below—

• “the Committee” means the Social Security Advisory Committee;

• “regulations” means regulations under any statutory provision, whenever passed or made.