The Universal Credit (Coronavirus) (Restoration of the Minimum Income Floor) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021

Restoration of the minimum income floor

2.—(1) Regulation 2 (universal credit – minimum income floor) of the Coronavirus Further Measures Regulations is, apart from paragraph (1)(c) and (d) to continue to have effect up to and including 31st July 2022(1), subject to the following provisions.

(2) Where the MIF easement is being applied to a claimant on the coming into operation of these Regulations, the Department must, subject to paragraph (3), cease to apply that easement from the assessment period(2) immediately after the assessment period in which the following conditions are met—

(a) the Department has determined that the claimant continues to be in gainful self-employment(3); and

(b) if the claimant was in a start-up period on the 13th March 2020(4) the same number of complete months of that period that remained on that date have elapsed since the determination in sub-paragraph (a).

(3) The Department may continue to apply the MIF easement after the assessment period in which the conditions mentioned in paragraph (2) are met, but only if it appears that the trade, profession or vocation carried on by the claimant remains adversely affected by the outbreak of coronavirus disease, and not for more than 2 consecutive assessment periods on a single occasion and not for more than 6 assessment periods in total.

(4) The Department may, if satisfied that economic conditions have sufficiently improved, determine that the MIF easement is no longer to apply to any claimant.

(5) The application of the MIF easement for a specific period in relation to a particular claimant by virtue of paragraph (2)(b) or (3) is not to be affected by the expiry of this regulation or by a determination of the Department under paragraph (4).

(6) References in this regulation to the MIF easement are to the individual threshold or the couple threshold in regulation 63 (minimum income floor) of the Universal Credit Regulations being treated as if it were a lesser amount (including zero) in accordance with regulation 2(1)(a) of the Coronavirus Further Measures Regulations.

(1)

By virtue of regulation 10 of those Regulations, as amended by S.R. 2020 No. 242 and S.R 2021 No. 67, regulation 2 otherwise ceases to have effect on the 31st July 2021.

(2)

See Article 12(2) of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 and regulation 22 of the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 S.R. No. 216, for the meaning of “assessment period”.

(3)

See regulation 65 of the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 for the meaning of “gainful self-employment”.

(4)

13th March 2020 was the date on which regulation 4 (suspension of the minimum income floor) of the Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit (Coronavirus) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (S.R. 2020 No. 33) came into operation. That regulation was replaced by regulation 2 of the Social Security (Coronavirus) (Further Measures) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (S.R. 2020 No. 53) from 30th March 2020.