Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

1998 No. 127

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING

SOCIAL SECURITY

New Deal (Miscellaneous Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1998

Made

31st March 1998

Coming into operation

11th May 1998

Whereas arrangements known as “the New Deal” have been made by the Department of Economic Development under section 1 of the Employment and Training Act (Northern Ireland) 1950 (“the 1950 Act”)(1):

And whereas it appears to the Department of Economic Development that these arrangements make provisions for persons using facilities provided in pursuance of them to receive payments in connection with their use of those facilities:

Now, therefore, the Department of Economic Development, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Article 4 of the Employment and Training (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1988(2) and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order:—

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the New Deal (Miscellaneous Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1998 and shall come into operation on 11th May 1998.

(2) In this Order—

“the New Deal” means the arrangements known by that name and made under section 1 of the 1950 Act for which only persons who are aged 18 years or over and less than 26 years immediately prior to entry are eligible and which are designed to help New Deal participants to obtain work or to improve their prospects of obtaining work;

“the New Deal Components” means any of the following, that is to say, the programmes of employment or employment-related training under the New Deal known individually as “the Full-time Education and Training Option”, “the Voluntary Sector Option” and “the Environmental Task Force Option”;

“training allowance” means a payment made by the Department to a New Deal participant in connection with his participation in one or more of the New Deal components;

and a person is, or, as the case may be, was, at any material time, a “New Deal participant” if he is, or as the case may be, was, at that time, using facilities provided for him in pursuance of one or more of the New Deal components.

Treatment of persons and payments for purposes of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and other specified statutory provisions.

2.—(1) For the purposes of—

(a)Part I of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(3),

(b)the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(4), and

(c)the statutory provisions specified in the Schedule,

if, for any period or periods commencing with and including or falling after the date on which this Order comes into operation, during which a person is a New Deal participant, that person receives, or is eligible to receive, a training allowance, he is to be treated for that period or those periods and in respect of his participation as not being employed but as participating in arrangements for training under section 1 of the 1950 Act; and, accordingly, any payment made to such a person during that period or those periods in connection with his use of facilities provided in pursuance of the New Deal shall be treated in the same manner as a payment of training allowance made in respect of such training.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Economic Development on

L.S.

W. A. N. Arbuthnot

Assistant Secretary

31st March 1998.

Article 2

SCHEDULEStatutory provisions

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order.)

This Order provides that, for the purposes of Part I of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and the statutory provisions specified in the Schedule to the Order, a person using facilities provided in pursuance of any of the employment or employment-related training programmes known as “the Full-time Education and Training Option”, “the Voluntary Sector Option” and “the Environmental Task Force Option” under the arrangements known as the New Deal and receiving or entitled to receive from the Department of Economic Development a training allowance in connection with the use of those facilities shall be treated as not being employed but as participating in arrangements for training under section 1 of the Employment and Training (Northern Ireland) Act 1950. Any payment made to such a person in connection with his use of those facilities shall be treated in the same manner as a payment of training allowance made in respect of such training.

(1)

1950 c. 29 (N.I.); section 1 was amended by Article 3 of the Employment and Training (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1988, S.I. 1988/1087 (N.I. 10)