Amendment of the Family Credit Regulations
5.—(1) The Family Credit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(1) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (7).
(2) In regulation 37 (interpretation of Chapter VII of Part IV)—
(a)in the definition of “contribution”(2) for the words from “and” to the end there shall be substituted “or student loan; or any sums, which in determining the amount of the student’s allowance or bursary in Scotland in terms of the Students' Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 1996(3) or the Education Authority (Bursaries) (Scotland) Regulations 1995(4), the Secretary of State or 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;”;
(b)for the definition of “year” there shall be substituted the following definitions—
““student loan” means a loan towards a student’s maintenance pursuant to any regulations made under Article 3 of the Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, section 22 of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 or section 73 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980;
“year”, in relation to a course, means the period of 12 months beginning on and including 1st January, 1st April, 1st July or 1st September according to whether the academic year of the course begins in the winter, the spring, the summer or the autumn respectively, but if students are required to begin attending the course during August or September and to continue attending through the autumn the academic year of the course shall be considered to begin in the autumn rather than the summer.”.
(3) In regulation 38 (calculation of grant income)—
(a)in paragraph (2)(f)(5) the words from “or” to the end shall be omitted;
(b)for paragraph (2A)(6) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—
“(2A) Where a student does not have a student loan and is not treated as possessing such a loan, there shall be excluded from the student’s grant income—
(a)the sum of £250 in respect of travel costs, and
(b)where no amount has been disregarded under paragraph (2)(f), the sum of £303 towards the costs of books and equipment,
whether or not any such costs are incurred.”.
(4) In regulation 42(7) (other amounts to be disregarded) for “and 40(1)(a) or (b) (calculation of grant income and covenant income)” there shall be substituted “40(1)(a) or (b) and 42A(5) (calculation of grant income, covenant income and treatment of student loans)”.
(5) In regulation 42A(8) (treatment of student loans)—
(a)for paragraph (1)(9) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—
“(1) A student loan shall be treated as income.”;
(b)for paragraph (3)(10) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—
“(3) A student shall be treated as possessing a student loan in respect of an academic year where—
(a)a student loan has been made to him in respect of that year, or
(b)he could acquire such a loan in respect of that year by taking reasonable steps to do so.
(4) Where a student is treated as possessing a student loan under paragraph (3), the amount of the student loan to be taken into account as income shall be, subject to paragraph (5)—
(a)in the case of a student to whom a student loan is made in respect of an academic year, a sum equal to—
(i)the maximum student loan he is able to acquire in respect of that year by taking reasonable steps to do so, and
(ii)any contribution whether or not it has been paid to him;
(b)in the case of a student to whom a student loan is not made in respect of an academic year, the maximum student loan that would be made to the student if—
(i)he took all reasonable steps to obtain the maximum student loan he is able to acquire in respect of that year, and
(ii)no deduction in that loan was made by virtue of the application of a means test.
(5) There shall be deducted from the amount of income taken into account under paragraph (4)—
(a)the sum of £250 in respect of travel costs, and
(b)where no amount has been disregarded under regulation 38(2)(f), the sum of £303 towards the cost of books and equipment,
whether or not any such costs are incurred.”.
(6) In regulation 43(11) (disregard of contribution) after “grant” there shall be inserted “or student loan”.
(7) In regulation 43A(12) (further disregard of student’s income) after “grant” there shall be inserted “or student loan”.
S.R. 1987 No. 463; relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 1990 No. 297, S.R. 1991 No. 326, S.R. 1992 No. 148, S.R. 1994 No. 77, S.R. 1996 No. 93 and S.R. 1998 Nos. 81 and 204
The definition of “contribution” was amended by regulation 3(1) and (2)(b) of S.R. 1998 No. 81
Regulation 38(2)(f) was amended by regulation 2(c) of S.R. 1998 No. 204
Regulation 38(2A) was inserted by regulation 10(b) of S.R. 1992 No. 148
Regulation 42 was amended by regulation 3(13)(a) and (b) of S.R. 1994 No. 77
Regulation 42A was inserted by regulation 2(5) of S.R. 1990 No. 297
Regulation 42A(1) was amended by regulation 8(a) of S.R. 1991 No. 326
Regulation 42A(3) was substituted by regulation 8 of S.R. 1996 No. 93
Regulation 43 was amended by regulation 9(1) and (2)(c) of S.R. 1996 No. 93
Regulation 43A was inserted by regulation 3(3) and (4)(b) of S.R. 1998 No. 81