167.—(1) Where an award of income-based jobseeker’s allowance has been made to a person (“the claimant”) the Department may make a complaint under Part VIII of the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(1) against the claimant’s spouse (“the liable person”) for a recovery order.
(2) On making a recovery order the court may order the liable person to pay such amount at such intervals as it considers appropriate, having regard to all the circumstances of the liable person and in particular his income.
(3) A recovery order shall be treated for enforcement purposes as if it were a maintenance order within the meaning of Article 98(11) of the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.
(4) Where a recovery order requires the liable person to make payments to the Department, the Department may, by giving notice in writing to the court which made the order, the liable person, and the claimant, transfer to the claimant the right to receive payments under the order and to exercise the relevant rights in relation to the order.
(5) In this regulation—
(a)the expressions “the court” and “recovery order” have the same meanings as in Article 25 of the Order, and
(b)“the relevant rights” means, in relation to a recovery order, the right to bring any proceedings, take any steps or do any other thing under or in relation to the order.