The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013

Amendment of the Housing Benefit Regulations

6.—(1) The Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006(1) are amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) In regulation 7 (circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home)—

(a) for paragraph (16)(c)(i) substitute—

“(i) a person to whom paragraph (16A) applies;”; and

(b) after paragraph (16) insert—

“(16A) This paragraph applies to a person (“P”) who is detained in custody on remand pending trial, detained pending sentence upon conviction, or as a condition of bail, required to reside in a dwelling, other than a dwelling P occupies as P’s home, and who is not also detained in custody following sentence upon conviction.”.

(3) In Schedule 4 (applicable amounts)—

(a) in Part V(2) (the components) for paragraph 21 substitute—

“21.— (1) Subject to paragraph 22, the claimant is entitled to one, but not both, of the components in paragraph 23 or 24 if—

(a) the claimant or the claimant’s partner has made a claim for employment and support allowance;

(b) the Department has determined that the claimant or the claimant’s partner—

(i) has limited capability for work or limited capability for work-related activity, or

(ii) is to be treated as having limited capability for work other than by virtue of regulation 30 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (conditions for treating a claimant as having limited capability for work until a determination about limited capability for work has been made); and

(c) one of the following applies—

(i) the assessment phase as defined in section 24(2) of the Welfare Reform Act (interpretation) has ended;

(ii) regulation 7 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (circumstances where the condition that the assessment phase has ended before entitlement to the support component or the work-related activity component arises does not apply) applies, or

(iii) the conditions in sub-paragraph (2) apply.

(2) The conditions referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(c)(iii) are—

(a) neither the claimant nor the claimant’s partner is entitled to an employment and support allowance;

(b) either is or both are entitled to be credited with earnings equal to the lower earnings limit then in operation under regulation 8B(2)(a)(iv) of the Social Security (Credits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1975(3) (credits for incapacity for work or limited capability for work); and

(c) sub-paragraph (1)(c)(i) or (ii) would have applied to the claimant or the claimant’s partner (or both) had they been entitled to an employment and support allowance.”; and

(b) in Part VII(4) (transitional addition) in paragraph 28—

(i) in sub-paragraph (1)(c) after “the relevant person” insert “satisfies the requirements of paragraph 27(1) or”, and

(ii) in sub-paragraph (3)(c) after “the relevant person” insert “no longer satisfying the requirements of paragraph 27(1)(a) or”.

(1)

S.R. 2006 No. 405; relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 2008 No. 378 and S.R. 2010 No. 312

(2)

Part V was added by regulation 3(17)(d) of S.R. 2008 No. 378

(3)

S.R. 1975 No. 113; regulation 8B was inserted by regulation 2(6) of S.R. 1996 No. 430. Paragraph (2)(a) was substituted by regulation 2(2)(a) of S.R. 2010 No. 109

(4)

Part VII was added by paragraph 1(5)(c) of Schedule 4 to S.R. 2010 No. 312