The Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998

The Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8)

59.  In subsection (2) of section 3 (late claims for widowhood benefit where death is difficult to establish)—

(a) for paragraph (a) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(a) in any case falling within paragraph (b)(i) of subsection (1) above, where it has been decided under Article 9 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 that the husband has died or is presumed to have died; or”; and

(b) for the word “determination” there shall be substituted the word “decision”.

60.—(1) In subsection (1) of section 5 (regulations about claims for and payments of benefit)—

(a) for paragraph (e) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(e) for any such award to be revised under Article 10 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, or superseded under Article 11 of that Order, if any of those requirements are found not to have been satisfied;”; and

(b) paragraphs (o) and (p) shall cease to have effect.

(2) Subsection (3) of that section shall cease to have effect.

61.  In section 22 (appeal from Commissioners on point of law)—

(a) in subsection (3), paragraph (c) shall cease to have effect; and

(b) in subsection (5), for the definition of “the relevant place” there shall be substituted the following definition—

• ““the relevant place”, in relation to an application for leave to appeal from a decision of a Commissioner, means the premises where the personor authoritywhose decision was the subject of the Commissioner’s decision usually exercises his or its functions.”.

62.—(1) In subsection (2) of section 69 (overpayments – general), after the word “shall” there shall be inserted the words “in the case of the Department or a tribunal, and may in the case of a Commissioner or a court”.

(2) In subsection (5) of that section—

(a) in paragraph (a), for the words “revised on a review” there shall be substituted the words “has been revised under Article 10 or superseded under Article 11 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”; and

(b) in paragraph (b), for the word “review” there shall be substituted the words “under that Article”.

(3) In subsection (5A) of that section, for the words “revised on a review” there shall be substituted the words “has been revised under Article 10 or superseded under Article 11 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”.

63.  In subsection (1) of section 69A (recovery of jobseeker’s allowance: severe hardship cases)—

(a) for the words “an adjudication officer”, in both places where they occur, there shall be substituted the words “the Department”; and

(b) for the words “the Department” there shall be substituted the word “it”.

64.  Subsection (4) of section 110 (legal proceedings) shall cease to have effect.

65.  For section 111 there shall be substituted the following section—

“111.    Issues arising in proceedings.

(1) This section applies to proceedings before a court—

(a) for an offence under this Act or the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995;

(b) involving any question as to the payment of contributions (other than a Class 4 contribution recoverable by the Inland Revenue); or

(c) for the recovery of any sums due to the Department or the National Insurance Fund.

(2) A decision of the Department which—

(a) falls within Part II of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (“the 1998 Order”); and

(b) relates to or affects an issue arising in the proceedings,

shall be conclusive for the purposes of the proceedings.

(3) If—

(a) any such decision is necessary for the determination of the proceedings; and

(b) the decision of the Department has not been obtained or an application with respect to the decision has been made under Article 10 or 11 of the 1998 Order,

the decision shall be referred to the Department to be made in accordance (subject to any necessary modifications) with Chapter II of PartII of thatOrder.

(4) Subsection (2) above does not apply where, in relation to the decision—

(a) an appeal has been brought but not determined;

(b) an application for leave to appeal has been made but not determined;

(c) an appeal has not been brought (or, as the case may be, an application for leave to appeal has not been made) but the time for doing so has not yet expired; or

(d) an application has been made under Article 10 or 11 of the 1998 Order.

(5) In a case falling within subsection (4) above the court shall adjourn the proceedings until such time as the final decision is known; and that decision shall be conclusive for the purposes of the proceedings.”.

66.  Subsection (2) of section 113 (recovery of unpaid contributions on prosecution) shall cease to have effect.

67.—(1) In subsection (1) of section 114 (proof of previous offences), the words “or (2)(a)” shall cease to have effect.

(2) In subsection (3) of that section—

(a) after the words “Class 1A” there shall be inserted the words “or Class 1B”; and

(b) for the words “2 years” there shall be substituted the words “6 years”.

(3) In subsection (4) of that section—

(a) after the words “Class 1” there shall be inserted the words “or Class 1B”; and

(b) for the words “2 years” there shall be substituted the words “6 years”.

(4) After that subsection there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(4A) If the offence is one of failure to pay a Class 1B contribution, evidence maybe givenof failure on his part to pay such contributions, or any Class 1 or Class 1Acontributions or contributions equivalent premiums, on the date of the offence, or during the 6 years preceding that date.”.

(5) In subsection (5) of that section—

(a) paragraph (b) and the word “or” immediately preceding that paragraph shall cease to have effect; and

(b) for the words “2 years” there shall be substituted the words “6 years”.

(6) In subsection (6) of that section, after the word “(4)” there shall be inserted the word “, (4A)”.

68.  In subsections (1) and (2) of section 115 (unpaid contributions – supplementary), the words “or (2)(a)” shall cease to have effect.

69.  After subsection (7) of section 116C (supply of information to the Housing Executive), there shall be added the following subsection—

“(8) This section and section 116D below shall each have effect as if the reference in subsection (1) to social security included a reference to child support.”.

70.  In subsection (6A) of section 117 (unauthorised disclosure of information relating to particular persons), for the words “section 52 above” there shall be substituted the words “Article 19 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”.

71.  In subsection (1) of section 118 (regulations as to notification of deaths)—

(a) after the words “the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997” there shall be inserted the words “, the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”; and

(b) for the words “or to that Order” there shall be substituted the words “or to those Orders”.

72.  In section 129 (amendments following alterations in Great Britain), for the words “, 145 or 146” there shall be substituted the words “or 145”.

73.  In subsection (2) of section 139 (effect of alteration in the component rates of income support), for the words “an adjudication officer” there shall be substituted the words “the Department”.

74.  In subsection (3) of section 139A (effect of alteration of rates of a jobseeker’s allowance), for the words “an adjudication officer” there shall be substituted the words “the Department”.

75.  In subsection (2) of section 140 (implementation of increases in income support due to attainment of particular ages), for the words “an adjudication officer” there shall be substituted the words “the Department”.

76.  In subsection (2) of section 140A (implementation of increases in income-based jobseeker’s allowance due to attainment of particular ages), for the words “an adjudication officer” there shall be substituted the words “the Department”.

77.—(1) After subsection (2) of section 142 (destination of contributions) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(2A) References in subsections (1) and (2) above to contributions include references to payments on account of contributions made in accordance with regulations under section 3(5) of the Contributions and Benefits Act (payments on account of directors' contributions).”.

(2) After subsection (4) of that section there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(4A) The sums recovered by the Department under regulations made under paragraph 7A, 7B or 7C of Schedule 1 to the Contributions and Benefits Act in respect of interest or penalties shall be paid into the National Insurance Fund.”.

(3) In subsection (5)(b) of that section, for the words “those contributions” there shall be substituted the words “primary Class 1 contributions”.

(4) In subsection (8)(b) of that section, after the words “paragraph (c)” there shall be inserted the words “or (ca)”.

78.—(1) In subsection (4) of section 143 (general financial arrangements), after the words “Class 1A” there shall be inserted the words “or Class 1B”.

(2) In subsection (5) of that section, after the words “paragraph 6”, where they first occur, there shall be inserted the words “or 7B”.

79.  Subsection (5)(a) of section 144 (destination of repayments, etc.) shall cease to have effect.

80.—(1) In subsection (3)(a) of section 147 (allocations from social fund), for the words “a particular social fund officer or group of social fund officers” there shall be substituted the words “a particular appropriate officer or group of appropriate officers”.

(2) In subsection (5) of that section, for the words “social fund officers”, in each place where they occur, there shall be substituted the words “appropriate officers”.

(3) After that subsection there shall be added the following subsection—

“(6) In this section “appropriate officer” means an officer of the Department who, acting under its authority, is exercising functions of the Department in relation to payments from the social fund such as are mentioned in section 134(1)(b) of the Contributions and Benefits Act.”.

81.  In subsection (5) of section 149 (functions of Social Security Advisory Committee in relation to legislation and regulations), after paragraph (ac) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(ad) the provisions of Chapter II of Part II of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 and Article 68 of that Order;”.

82.  In subsection (4) of section 153 (co-ordination with Great Britain)—

(a) in paragraph (a), after the words “Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995” there shall be inserted the words “, Chapter II of Part II of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”; and

(b) in paragraph (b), after the words “Jobseekers Act 1995” there shall be inserted the words “, Chapter II of Part I of the Social Security Act 1998”.

83.—(1) In subsection (1) of section 154 (reciprocal arrangements with Great Britain – income-related benefits and child benefit), after the words “Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995” there shall be inserted the words “, Chapter II of Part II of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”.

(2) In subsection (3) of that section, after the words “Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995”, in each place where they occur, there shall be inserted the words “, Chapter II of Part II of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”.

84.—(1) In subsection (3)(a) of section 155 (reciprocal agreements with countries outside the United Kingdom), after the words “Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995” there shall be insertedthe words “, Chapter II of Part II of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”.

(2) In subsection (4) of that section, after paragraph (aa) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(ab) to Chapter II of Part II of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998; and”.

85.  In section 156 (payment of travelling expenses by Department)—

(a) in paragraph (a), after the words “the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997” there shall be inserted the words “, Chapter II of Part II of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”; and

(b) in paragraph (b)(i), after the words “the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997” there shall be inserted the words “, Chapter II of Part II of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”.

86.  In subsection (6) of section 165 (regulations and orders – general) the word “24,” shall cease to have effect.

87.  In subsection (1) of section 167 (interpretation)—

(a) the definitions of “the disablement questions” and “President” shall cease to have effect;

(b) in the definition of “claimant” (in relation to industrial injuries benefit), for the words “section 42 above” there shall be substituted the words “Article 29 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”; and

(c) for the definition of “Commissioner” there shall be substituted the following definition—

““Commissioner” means the Chief Social Security Commissioner or any other Social Security Commissioner and includes a tribunal of 2 or more Commissioners constituted under Article 16(7) of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998;”.

88.—(1) For the heading to Schedule 2 (commissioners, tribunals, etc. – supplementary provisions), there shall be substituted the following heading—

“COMMISSIONERS – SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS”.

(2) In that Schedule, the following shall cease to have effect, namely—

(a) paragraph 1(1);

(b) in paragraph 1(2), the words “, the President and the full-time chairmen”;

(c) in paragraph 1(4), the words “, the President and a full-time chairman”;

(d) paragraph 1(5);

(e) paragraphs 2 to 6;

(f) paragraph 8; and

(g) in paragraph 9(b), paragraphs (ii) to (iv).

89.  In Part I of Schedule 4 (persons employed in social security administration or adjudication)—

(a) the entry headed “Adjudication officers” shall cease to have effect;

(b) in the entry headed “Adjudicating bodies”, in paragraph (a), for the words “a social security” there shall be substituted the word “an”, and paragraphs (b) to (d) shall cease to have effect;

(c) in the entry headed “The social fund”, the words “A social fund officer” shall cease to have effect; and

(d) at the end of the entry headed “Former statutory bodies” there shall be added the words—

“A Chief Adjudication Officer.

An adjudication officer.

A social fund officer.

A clerk to, or other officer or member of the staff of, a former social security appeal tribunal, a former disability appeal tribunal or a former medical appeal tribunal.”.

90.  In paragraph 1(7) of Schedule 6 (old cases payments administration), after the words “this Act” there shall be insertedthe words “, Chapter II of Part II of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”.

91.—(1) In sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2 of Schedule 7 (supplementary benefits, etc.), for the words “Sections 18 to 27, 34 to 41 and 49 to 59 above” there shall be substituted the words “Articles 9 to 18, 29 to 31 and 39 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 and section 22 above”.

(2) In sub-paragraph (2) of that paragraph, for the words “section 57 above” there shall be substituted the words “Article 16 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”.