The Child Support Maintenance Calculation (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Child Support Maintenance Calculation Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 (S.R. 2012 No. 427) by inserting regulations 75(2) to (4). Regulation 75(1) (as renumbered by these Regulations) sets out the condition for a person who has reached the age of 16 and is under the age of 20 to fall within the definition of “child” for the purposes of the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (the “1991 Order”). Regulation 75(1) states that such a person must be a “qualifying young person” as defined in section 138(2) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992.

The effect of inserted regulation 75(2)(a) is that a person who is in paid work, or working in expectation of payment, (“remunerative work”) in any week in the “prescribed period” is not a “qualifying young person” and, therefore, is not a “child” for the purposes of the 1991 Order. The person is not, therefore, the subject of child support.

The “prescribed period” is defined in regulation 7(2) of the Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2006 (“the 2006 Regulations”). It is the period of time between a person leaving relevant education or approved training and the applicable terminal date, or their 20th birthday, whichever is sooner. There are four terminal dates which are: the last day of February, May, August and November.

The effect of inserted regulation 75(2)(b) and (4) is that a person who is in receipt of the benefits and credits mentioned in regulation 8(2) of the 2006 Regulations does not satisfy the condition of being a “qualifying young person” and therefore is not a “child” for the purposes of the 1991 Order. The person is not the subject of child support.

Where a person is entered for exams, inserted regulation 75(3) provides that the prescribed period ends in “the week in which” the applicable terminal date falls. After the prescribed period ends, the person is no longer a “child” and is not the subject of child support.