The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Part I Personal Allowances

1.  The weekly amounts specified in column (2) in respect of each person or couple specified in column (1) shall be the weekly amounts specified for the purposes of regulations 83 and 84(1) (applicable amounts and polygamous marriages).

Column (1)	Column (2)
Person or Couple	Amount
(1) Single claimant aged—
(a) except where head (b) or (c) applies, less than 18;	(1) (a) £28·85;
(b) less than 18 who falls within regulation 57(2) and who— (i) is a person to whom regulation 59, 60 or 61 applies and is registered in accordance with regulation 62, or (ii) is the subject of a direction under Article 18 of the Order;	(b) £37·90;
(c) less than 18 who satisfies the condition in paragraph 13(a) of Part III;	(c) £37·90;
(d) not less than 18 but less than 25;	(d) £37·90;
(e) not less than 25.	(e) £47·90.
(2) Lone parent aged—
(a) except where head (b) or (c) applies, less than 18;	(2) (a) £28·85;
(b) less than 18 who falls within regulation 57(2) and who— (i) is a person to whom regulation 59, 60 or 61 applies and is registered in accordance with regulation 62, or (ii) is the subject of a direction under Article 18 of the Order;	(b) £37·90;
(c) less than 18 who satisfies the condition in paragraph 13(a) of Part III;	(c) £37·90;
(d) not less than 18.	(d) £47·90.
(3) Couple—
(a) where both members are aged less than 18 and— (i) at least one of them is treated as responsible for a child; (ii) had they not been members of a couple, each would have been a person to whom regulation 59, 60 or 61 (circumstances in which a person aged 16 or 17 is eligible for a jobseeker’s allowance) applied; (iii) had they not been members of a couple, the claimant would have been a person to whom regulation 59, 60 or 61 (circumstances in which a person aged 16 or 17 is eligible for a jobseeker’s allowance) applied and his partner satisfies the requirements for entitlement to income support other than the requirement to make a claim for it; (iv) they are married and each member is a person to whom regulation 59, 60 or 61 applies and is registered in accordance with regulation 62; (v) there is a direction under Article 18 of the Order (jobseeker’s allowance in cases of severe hardship) in respect of each member; (vi) there is a direction under Article 18 of the Order in respect of one of them and the other is a person to whom regulation 59, 60 or 61 applies and is registered in accordance with regulation 62, or (vii) there is a direction under Article 18 of the Order in respect of one of them and the other satisfies requirements for entitlement to income support other than the requirement to make a claim for it;	(3) (a) £57·20;
(b) where both members are aged less than 18 and sub-paragraph (3)(a) does not apply but one member of the couple falls within regulation 57(2) and either— (i) is a person to whom regulation 59, 60 or 61 applies and is registered in accordance with regulation 62, or (ii) is the subject of a direction under Article 18 of the Order;	(b) £37·90;
(c) where both members are aged less than 18 and neither head (a) nor (b) of sub-paragraph (3) applies but one member of the couple— (i) is a person to whom regulation 59, 60 or 61 applies and is registered in accordance with regulation 62, or (ii) is the subject of a direction under Article 18 of the Order;	(c) £28·85;
(d) where both members are aged less than 18 and head (a), (b) or (c) of sub-paragraph (3) does not apply but one member of the couple is a person who satisfies the requirements of paragraph 13(a);	(d) £37·90;
(e) where both members are aged not less than 18;	(e) £75·20;
(f) where one member is aged not less than 18 and the other member is a person under 18 who— (i) is a person to whom regulation 59, 60 or 61 applies and is registered in accordance with regulation 62, or (ii) is the subject of a direction under Article 18 of the Order, and (iii) satisfies requirements for entitlement to income support other than the requirement to make a claim for it;	(f) £75·20;
(g) where one member is aged not less than 18 but less than 25 and the other member is a person under 18— (i) to whom none of regulations 59 to 61 applies, or (ii) who is not the subject of a direction under Article 18 of the Order, and (iii) does not satisfy requirements for entitlement to income support disregarding the requirement to make a claim for it;	(g) £37·90;
(h) where one member is aged not less than 25 and the other member is a person under 18— (i) to whom none of regulations 59 to 61 applies, or (ii) who is not the subject of a direction under Article 18 of the Order, and (iii) does not satisfy requirements for entitlement to income support disregarding the requirement to make a claim for it.	(h) £47·90.

2.  The weekly amounts specified in column (2) in respect of each person specified in column (1) shall be the weekly amounts specified for the purposes of regulations 83(b) and 84(1)(c).

Column (1)	Column (2)
Child or Young Person	Amount
Person aged—
(a) less than 11;	(a) £16·45;
(b) not less than 11 but less than 16;	(b) £24·10;
(c) not less than 16 but less than 18;	(c) £28·85;
(d) not less than 18.	(d) £37·90.

3.—(1) The weekly amount for the purposes of regulations 83(c) and 84(1)(d) (residential allowance) in respect of a person who satisfies the conditions specified in sub-paragraph (2) shall be £54·00.

(2) Subject to sub-paragraphs (3), (4) and (5), the conditions are—

(a) the person resides in a residential care home or a nursing home or is regarded, pursuant to sub-paragraph (5), as residing in such a home;

(b) the person both requires personal care and is provided with it in the home and for this purpose “personal care” means care which includes assistance with bodily functions where such assistance is required;

(c) he does not have a preserved right;

(d) he is aged 16 or over;

(e) both the person’s accommodation and such meals (if any) as are provided for him are provided on a commercial basis, and

(f) no part of the weekly charge for accommodation is met by housing benefit.

(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2), but subject to sub-paragraph (4), a person resides in a residential care home where the home in which he resides—

(a) is registered under Part II of the Registered Homes Order, or

(b) is managed or provided by a body incorporated by Royal Charter or constituted by statutory provision (other than a Health and Social Services Board or an HSS trust) and provides both board and personal care for the claimant,

and a person resides in a nursing home where the home in which he resides is such a home within the meaning of regulation 1(2) (interpretation).

(4) A person shall not be regarded as residing in a nursing home for the purposes of sub-paragraph (2) where the home in which he resides is a hospice, and for this purpose “hospice” means a nursing home which is registered under Part III of the Registered Homes Order and whose primary function is to provide palliative care for persons resident there who are suffering from a progressive disease in its final stages.

(5) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2)(a), where a person’s principal place of residence is a residential care home or a nursing home, and he is temporarily absent from that home, he shall be regarded as continuing to reside at that home—

(a) where he is absent because he is a patient, for the first 6 weeks of any such period of absence, and for this purpose—

(i) “patient” has the meaning it has in Schedule 4 by virtue of regulation 85, and

(ii) periods of absence separated by not more than 28 days shall be treated as a single period of absence equal in duration to all those periods, and

(b) for the first 3 weeks of any other period of absence.

(6) Where—

(a) a person has been registered under the Registered Homes Order in respect of premises which have been carried on as a residential care home or, as the case may be, a nursing home, and that person has ceased to carry on such a home, and

(b) an application for registration under that Order has been made by another person and that application has not been determined or abandoned,

then any question arising for determination under this paragraph shall be determined as if the most recent registration under that Order in respect of those premises continued until the day on which the application is determined or abandoned.