The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Joint Claims) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

31.  After regulation 74A there shall be inserted the following regulation—

“Reduced allowance where one member of a joint-claim couple is subject to a sanction

74B.— (1) Where only one member of a joint-claim couple is subject to sanctions for the purposes of Article 22A of the Order (denial or reduction of joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance), the rate of jobseeker’s allowance payable in respect of the couple for the period of those sanctions shall be calculated in accordance with this regulation.

(2) Where paragraph (1) applies, a reduced rate of jobseeker’s allowance shall be payable to the member of the couple who is not subject to sanctions.

(3) That reduced rate shall be—

(a) in any case in which the member of the couple who is not subject to sanctions satisfies the conditions set out in Article 4 of the Order (the contribution-based conditions), a rate equal to the amount calculated in accordance with Article 6(1) of the Order (amount payable by way of a jobseeker’s allowance);

(b) in any case where the couple are a couple in hardship for the purposes of Part IXA, a rate equal to the amount calculated in accordance with regulation 146G;

(c) in any other case, a rate calculated in accordance with Article 6(3A)(1) of the Order (amount payable by way of a jobseeker’s allowance) save that the applicable amount shall be the amount determined by reference to paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 1 which would have been the applicable amount had the member of the couple who is not subject to sanctions been a single claimant.”.

(1)

Paragraph (3A) was inserted by paragraph 6(3) of Schedule 7 to the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11))