EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 27 of the Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2010 amended Article 10 of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to allow for a new sanction to be applied in certain circumstances when a jobseeker’s allowance claimant fails to attend an appointment. The sanction is that, although entitlement to jobseeker’s allowance will continue, the benefit will not be payable for a period of at least one week and not more than 2 weeks.

Regulation 2(3) inserts new regulations 27A and 27B into the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (“the 1996 Regulations”) to provide for this new sanction. New regulation 27A provides for the new sanction to be applied where a claimant:

  • fails to attend an interview on the day specified, makes contact with the Social Security Office/Jobs and Benefits Office within 5 working days but fails to show good cause for the failure to attend; or

  • attends an interview on the day specified but fails to attend at the time specified and (having been warned in writing of the consequences of a subsequent failure to attend on time), then fails on a subsequent occasion to attend at the time specified, makes contact with the Social Security Office/Jobs and Benefits Office within 5 working days of the failure to attend at the time specified but fails to show good cause for that failure.

New regulation 27B sets out the period for which jobseeker’s allowance is not to be payable and prescribes when this period will begin.

Regulation 2(2) and (3) make consequential amendments to regulations 25 and 27 of the 1996 Regulations. As a result of these amendments, in future entitlement to jobseeker’s allowance will end only where a claimant:

  • fails to attend an interview on the day specified and fails to make contact with the Social Security Office/Jobs and Benefits Office within 5 working days;

  • attends an interview on the day specified but fails to attend at the time specified and (having been warned in writing of the consequences of a subsequent failure to attend on time), then fails on a subsequent occasion to attend at the time specified, and fails to make contact with the Social Security Office/Jobs and Benefits Office within 5 working days of that failure; or

  • fails to provide a signed declaration as required under regulation 24 and fails to make contact with the Social Security Office/Jobs and Benefits Office and shows good cause for that failure within 5 working days.

Regulations 2(4) to (17) and 3 make consequential amendments to other provisions of the 1996 Regulations, the Social Security (Credits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1975, the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999, the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001, the Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 and the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.

Regulation 4 makes consequential revocations.

In so far as these Regulations are required, for the purposes of regulation 3(4) and (5), to be referred to the Social Security Advisory Committee under section 149(2) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, 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 Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, that Act, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.