The Social Security (New Deal Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations amend the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (“the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations”), the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the Income Support Regulations”) and the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the Housing Benefit Regulations”).

In particular, regulations 2(a) and 5(a) define respectively the Preparation for Employment Programme for 50 plus (“PEP for 50 plus”) and the Preparation for Employment Programme (“PEP”). Regulation 5 provides that individuals aged between 25 and 49 participating in the PEP are considered to be participating in an employment programme for the purposes of Articles 21 and 22A of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations. The effect of this is that if such a person, without good cause, refuses or fails to participate in the PEP or loses his place on the PEP because of misconduct, he will receive a sanction under Article 21 or 22A. By definition, those aged 50 or over who are participating in the PEP for 50 plus are not considered to be participating in an employment programme for those purposes and are therefore not liable to a sanction.

The Regulations also amend the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations so as to allow claims for jobseeker’s allowance separated by periods on the PEP or PEP for 50 plus to link (regulation 3).

Regulation 4 amends regulation 69 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations to provide a different period for a sanction that is applied in relation to the PEP.

Where a person may not be entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance as a result of any act or omission whilst on the PEP or is subject to sanctions in respect of that act or omission whilst a member of a joint-claim couple, regulation 8 amends the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations so as to provide that such a person shall not be a person in hardship or, as the case may be, the couple of which he is member shall not be a couple in hardship.

These Regulations also amend both the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (regulation 9) and the Income Support Regulations (regulation 12) by allowing certain periods of participation in the PEP or PEP for 50 plus to be treated as periods of entitlement to those benefits for the purpose of applying the rules on payment of housing costs in those benefits and by extending to 52 weeks, certain maximum periods which link separate periods of benefit entitlement where a claimant has ceased to be entitled to income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance because he is participating in the PEP or the PEP for 50 plus.

These Regulations also make various amendments to the rules on the treatment of income and capital in the benefits referred to in the first paragraph which are consequential on the introduction of the PEP and the PEP for 50 plus—

(a) they insert the definition of “self-employment route” (regulations 2(b) and 13(2)(b) and (3)) to provide that income paid to people who are receiving assistance in pursuing self-employed earner’s employment whilst participating in the PEP or PEP for 50 plus and which derives directly from the receipt of such assistance shall, for the purposes of jobseeker’s allowance and income support, be subject to special rules as to its calculation and the date it is taken into account and treated as paid; and this amendment also enables certain disregards to apply in all the benefits referred to in the first paragraph in respect of the income and capital of such participants;

(b) they provide that certain payments made to providers pursuant to the PEP or PEP for 50 plus shall not be treated as either notional income (regulations 6(a) and 13(4) and (5)) or as notional capital of the participant (regulations 7 and 13(8) and (9));

(c) they provide that where a claimant performs a service in connection with the claimant’s participation in an PEP or PEP for 50 plus for not less than 3 days in a week and a training allowance is not paid, that shall be an exception to the rule that he shall not be attributed with notional earnings (regulations 6(b) and 13(6) and (7));

(d) they provide that certain payments of child care expenses reimbursed in respect of a claimant’s participation in the PEP or PEP for 50 plus shall be disregarded (regulations 10(a) and 13(10) and (11));

(e) they provide that certain other payments made to PEP or PEP for 50 plus participants shall be disregarded both as income other than earnings (regulations 10(b) and 13(12) and (13)) and as capital (regulations 11 and 13(14) and (15)).

Regulation 13(1) makes a minor technical amendment in relation to the definition of the New Deal options and regulation 13(2)(a) and (3) inserts a definition of the Preparation for Employment Programme for 50 plus into the Housing Benefit Regulations and the Income Support Regulations.

Regulation 14 makes amendments to the Housing Benefit Regulations, the Income Support Regulations and the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations consequential on the insertion of the definition of self-employment route by regulation 2.

In so far as these Regulations are required, for the purposes of regulations 13(1), (2), (3)(a), (4), (5)(a), (6), (7)(a), (8), (9)(a), (10), (11)(a), (12), (13)(a), (14) and (15)(a) and 14(1), (2)(a) and (5) to be referred to the Social Security Advisory Committee under section 149(2) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8), (“the 1992 Act”), after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee, they have not been so referred by virtue of section 150(1)(b) of that Act. Otherwise they make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Social Security in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the 1992 Act, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.

These Regulations do not impose a charge on business.