The Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (Commencement No. 8 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2017

Sanctions: transition from old style JSA in case of a new award

18.—(1) This Article applies where—

(a) a person is entitled to a new style JSA award and they were previously entitled to an old style JSA award that was not in existence immediately before the first day on which the person in question is entitled to the new style JSA award;

(b) immediately before that old style award terminated, payments were reduced under Article 21 (as it applied both before and after substitution by the 2015 Order) (before substitution: circumstances in which a jobseeker’s allowance is not payable; after substitution: higher-level sanctions) or 21A (other sanctions) of the 1995 Order, or under regulation 69B of the JSA Regulations 1996 (the period of a reduction under Article 21B: claimants ceasing to be available for employment etc.)(1); and

(c) if the old style JSA award was made to a joint-claim couple within the meaning of the 1995 Order and the reduction related to—

(i) in the case of a reduction under Article 21 as it applied before substitution by the 2015 Order, circumstances relating to only one member of the couple; or

(ii) in the case of a reduction under Article 21 as it applied after substitution by the 2015 Order, a sanctionable failure by only one member of the couple,

the new style JSA award was made to that member of the couple.

(2) Where this Article applies—

(a) the circumstances or failure which led to reduction of the old style JSA award (in either case “the relevant failure”) is to be treated, for the purposes of the JSA Regulations 2016, as—

(i) a failure which is sanctionable under Article 8J of the 1995 Order (higher-level sanctions), where the reduction was under Article 21 of the 2015 Order; or

(ii) a failure which is sanctionable under Article 8K of the 1995 Order (other sanctions), where the reduction was under Article 21A of the 1995 Order or regulation 69B of the JSA Regulations 1996;

(b) the award of new style JSA is to be reduced in relation to the relevant failure, in accordance with the provisions of this Article and Part 3 of the JSA Regulations 2016 (sanctions), as modified by this Article; and

(c) the reduction is to be treated, for the purposes of the JSA Regulations 2016, as a reduction under Article 8J or, as the case may be, Article 8K of the 1995 Order.

(3) The reduction period for the purposes of the JSA Regulations 2016 is to be the number of days which is equivalent to the length of the period of reduction of a jobseeker’s allowance which is applicable to the person under regulation 69, 69A or 69B of the JSA Regulations 1996, minus—

(a) the number of days (if any) in that period in respect of which the amount of a jobseeker’s allowance was reduced; and

(b) the number of days (if any) in the period starting with the day after the day on which the old style JSA award terminated and ending with the day before the first day on which the person is entitled to a new style JSA award.

(4) Accordingly, regulation 19 of the JSA Regulations 2016 (general principles for calculating reduction periods) applies in relation to the relevant failure as if—

(a) in paragraph (1), for the words “in accordance with regulations 20, 21 and 22”, there were substituted the words “in accordance with Article 18 of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (Commencement No. 8 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2017”; and

(b) in paragraph (3), for the words “in accordance with regulation 20, 21 and 22”, there were substituted the words “in accordance with Article 18 of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (Commencement No. 8 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2017”.

(1)

Regulation 69B was inserted by regulation 2(2) of S.R. 2016 No. 241 and amended by regulation 4(8) of S.R. 2017 No. 116.