Statutory Instruments
SOCIAL SECURITY
Made
7th November 1997
Laid before Parliament
10th November 1997
Coming into force
1st December 1997
The Secretary of State for Social Security, in exercise of the powers conferred on her by sections 35(1), 36(1) and (2) and 40(1)(a) and (2)(b) of, and paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to, the Jobseekers Act 1995(1), and of all other powers enabling her in that behalf, after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee that proposals in respect of these Regulations should not be referred to it(2), hereby makes the following Regulations:
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1997 and shall come into force on 1st December 1997.
2. In regulation 47A of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996(3) (jobseeking periods: periods of interruption of employment)—
(a)immediately before paragraph (a) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—
“(za)where a linked period commenced before 7th October 1996 and is still current on 1st December 1997, any days of unemployment which form part of a period of interruption of employment where the last day of unemployment in that period of interruption of employment was no more than 8 weeks before the date upon which that linked period commenced;”;
(b)at the end, there shall be added the words “and, for the purposes of paragraph (za), a day shall be treated as being, or not being, a day of unemployment in accordance with section 25A of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(4) and with any regulations made under that section, as in force on 6th October 1996”.
3. In regulation 8 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 1996(5) (claims for entitlement to a jobseeker’s allowance), in paragraph (4)(a), after the words “312 days” there shall be inserted the words “but only in so far as this sub-paragraph has effect in the case of any person in respect of any date falling before 1st December 1997”.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Social Security
John Y. Denham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department of Social Security
7th November 1997
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/207) by ensuring that where a linked period commenced before 6th October 1997, any day of unemployment which forms part of a period of interruption of employment shall be treated as a jobseeking period if that period ends within 8 weeks of the commencement of the linked period (regulation 2).
They also amend the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/2567) so as to provide that in the case of persons to whom unemployment benefit was payable on 6th or 7th April 1996 and where the period of interruption of employment that was current on that date was also current on the relevant day, section 5(1) of the Jobseekers Act 1995 (c. 18) shall only have effect as if the reference to 182 days were replaced by a reference to 312 days, up until the day before these Regulations come into force (regulation 3).
These Regulations do not impose any charge on business.
1995 c. 18; section 35(1) is an interpretation provision and is cited because of the meanings ascribed to “prescribed” and “regulations”.
See sections 170 and 173(1)(b) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (c. 5); paragraph 67 of Schedule 2 to the Jobseekers Act 1995 added that Act to the list of “relevant enactments” in respect of which regulations must normally be referred to the Committee.
1992 c. 4; section 25A was inserted by paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994 (c. 18).
S.I. 1996/2567 to which there is an amendment which is not relevant to these Regulations.