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

• “immigration authorities” in regulation 7A(4)17 (persons from abroad) means an adjudicator, an immigration officer or an immigration appeal tribunal appointed for the purposes of the Immigration Act 197118 and in addition means the Secretary of State;

c

the landlord, in the case of a determination made under regulation 93 or 94, except where the payment is made to an agent acting for the landlord when the person affected is the agent, or

• “young individual” means a single claimant who has not attained the age of 25 years, but does not include such a claimant—

  1. a

     whose landlord is a registered housing association;

  2. b

     who has not attained the age of 22 years and has ceased to be the subject of a training school order or a fit person order made on care, protection and control grounds pursuant to section 95(1)(a) or (b) of the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 196821 which had previously been made in respect of him either—

     1. i

        after he attained the age of 16 years, or

     2. ii

        before he attained the age of 16 years, but had continued after he attained that age, or

  3. c

     who has not attained the age of 22 years and was formerly provided with accommodation under the provisions of Part VII of the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 1968.

• “contribution” means any contribution in respect of the income of any other person which the Department or an education authority takes into account in ascertaining the amount of the student’s grant, or any sums, which in determining the amount of a student’s allowance or bursary in Scotland under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 199223, the Secretary of State or the education authority takes into account being sums which the Secretary of State or the education authority consider that the holder of the allowance or bursary, the holder’s parents and the holder’s spouse can reasonably be expected to contribute towards the holder’s expenses;

• “course of study” means any course of study, whether or not it is a sandwich course and whether or not a grant is made for attending or undertaking it and for the purposes of this definition a person who has started a course of study shall be treated as attending or undertaking it, as the case may be, until the last day of the course or such earlier date as he abandons it or is dismissed from it;

• “standard maintenance grant” means—

  1. a

     except where paragraph (b) or (c) applies, in the case of a student attending a course of study at the University of London or an establishment within the area comprising the City of London and the Metropolitan Police District, the amount specified for the time being in paragraph 2(2)(a) of Schedule 7 to the Students Awards (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 199624 (“the 1996 Regulations”) for such a student;

  2. b

     except where paragraph (c) applies, in the case of a student residing at his parent’s home, the amount specified in paragraph 3(2) thereof;

  3. c

     in the case of a student receiving an allowance or bursary under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, the amount of money specified as “standard maintenance allowance” for the relevant year appropriate for the student set out in the Guide to Undergraduate allowances issued by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, or its nearest equivalent in the case of a bursary as set out by the local education authority;

  4. d

     in any other case, the amount specified in paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 7 to the 1996 Regulations other than in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) thereof;

aa

in the case of any amount of a payment which represents arrears of maintenance for a week prior to the first benefit week pursuant to a claim, on the day of the week in which it became due which corresponds to the first day of the benefit week;

2

Where a payment to which paragraph (1)(b) refers is made to the Department and then transmitted to the person entitled to receive it, the payment shall be treated as paid on the first day of the benefit week in which it is transmitted or, where it is not practicable to take it into account in that week, the first day of the first succeeding benefit week in which it is practicable to take the payment into account.

• “a course of advanced education” means—

  1. a

     a course leading to a postgraduate degree or comparable qualification, a first degree or comparable qualification, a diploma of higher education, or a higher national diploma, or

  2. b

     any other course which is of a standard above advanced GNVQ or equivalent, including a course which is of a standard above a general certificate of education (advanced level), a Scottish certificate of education (higher level) or a Scottish certificate of sixth year studies;

• “contribution” means any contribution in respect of the income of any other person which the Department or an education authority takes into account in ascertaining the amount of the student’s grant, or any sums, which in determining the amount of a student’s allowance or bursary in Scotland under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, the Secretary of State or the education authority takes into account being sums which the Secretary of State or the education authority consider that the holder of the allowance or bursary, the holder’s parents and the holder’s spouse can reasonably be expected to contribute towards the holder’s expenses;

• “standard maintenance grant” means—

  1. a

     except where paragraph (b) or (c) applies, in the case of a student attending a course of study at the University of London or an establishment within the area comprising the City of London and the Metropolitan Police District, the amount specified for the time being in paragraph 2(2)(a) of Schedule 7 to the Students Awards (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (“the 1996 Regulations”) for such a student;

  2. b

     except where paragraph (c) applies, in the case of a student residing at his parent’s home, the amount specified in paragraph 3(2) thereof;

  3. c

     in the case of a student receiving an allowance or bursary under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, the amount of money specified as “standard maintenance allowance” for the relevant year appropriate for the student set out in the Guide to Undergraduate allowances issued by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, or its nearest equivalent in the case of a bursary as set by the local education authority;

  4. d

     in any other case, the amount specified in paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 7 to the 1996 Regulations other than in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) thereof;

aa

he was, or was treated as being, in receipt of income support,

bb

he was treated as entitled to income support for the purpose of sub-paragraph (5) or (5A), or

cc

head (a)(i) applies;

6

Where the claimant is a member of a couple—

a

in a case to which none of paragraphs 4, 6A, 6B, 7 and 8 applies36, £10; but notwithstanding regulation 2337 (calculation of income and capital of members of claimant’s family and of a polygamous marriage), if this paragraph applies to a claimant it shall not apply to his partner except where, and to the extent that, the earnings of the claimant which are to be disregarded under this sub-paragraph are less than £10;

b

in a case to which one or more of paragraphs 4, 6A, 6B, 7 and 8 applies and the total amount disregarded under those paragraphs is less than £10, so much of the claimant’s earnings as would not in aggregate with the amount disregarded under those paragraphs exceed £10.

10

Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 to 9, where 2 or more payments of the same kind and from the same source are to be taken into account in the same benefit week, because it has not been practicable to treat the payments under regulation 31(1)(b) (date on which income treated as paid) as paid on the first day of the benefit week in which they were due to be paid, there shall be disregarded from each payment the sum that would have been disregarded if the payment had been taken into account on the date on which it was due to be paid.

15A. In the case of claimant who—

a

has been engaged in employment as—

i

a member of any territorial or reserve force prescribed in Part I of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 197939, or

ii

a person in the army whose service is restricted to part-time service in Northern Ireland pursuant to section 1 of the Army Act 199240, Regulations made under section 2 of the Armed Forces Act 196641, or the terms of his commission, and

b

by reason of that employment has failed to satisfy any of the conditions for entitlement to income support other than section 123(1)(b) of the Contributions and Benefits Act (income not in excess of the applicable amount),

any earnings from that employment paid in respect of the period in which the claimant was not entitled to income support.