The Income-Related Benefits and Social Fund (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations further amend the Disability Working Allowance (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 (“the Disability Working Allowance Regulations”), the Family Credit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the Family Credit Regulations”), the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the Family Credit Regulations”), the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the Income Support Regulations”), the Social Fund (Recovery by Deductions from Benefits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988 and the Income Support (General) (Jobseeker’s Allowance Consequential Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.

In the Disability Working Allowance Regulations provision is made with respect to the period over which a person’s weekly income is to be determined and the Family Credit Regulations are amended with respect to the calculation of a student’s grant income. Those Regulations are also amended with respect to the treatment of overlapping awards of those benefits (regulations 2 and 3).

In the Family Credit Regulations the definitions of “person affected” and “young individual” (regulation 4(2)(b) and (c)) and the manner in which a student’s covenant income is calculated are amended (regulation 4(6) and (7)).

The Family Credit Regulations and the Income Support Regulations are amended with respect to—

(a) the definitions relating to the treatment of students (regulations 4(4) and 5(8));

(b) the manner of calculating a student’s grant income (regulations 4(5) and 5(9));

(c) the provisions specifying who is to be treated as a person from abroad (regulations 4(2)(a) and (3) and 5(2) and (6)).

The Income Support Regulations are amended—

(a) with respect to payment of benefit to persons temporarily absent from Northern Ireland and the entitlement of persons from abroad (regulation 5(3));

(b) with respect to the treatment of a partner of a claimant for income support as engaged in remunerative work where that partner is engaged in such work for at least 24 hours per week (regulation 5(4));

(c) so that a person detained in custody or on temporary release is not to be treated as a member of the household of a claimant for income support (regulation 5(5));

(d) with respect to the day on which arrears of child support maintenance are to be treated as paid (regulation 5(7));

(e) with respect to the treatment of prescribed housing costs (regulation 5(10));

(f) with respect to sums which are to be disregarded in the calculation of a person’s income other than earnings (regulation 5(11)).

The Social Fund (Recovery by Deductions from Benefits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988 are amended in consequence of the introduction of jobseeker’s allowance (regulation 6).

The Income Support (General) (Jobseeker’s Allowance Consequential Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 are amended with respect to the continuity between income support and jobseeker’s allowance (regulation 7).

Regulation 8 makes a minor amendment to the Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.

In so far as these Regulations are required, for the purposes of regulations 4 and 8 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”), and 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.