The Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations further amend the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 in consequence of the coming into operation of section 62 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000 (c. 4) which introduces revised powers relating to the recovery of overpaid housing benefit.

Regulation 2 substitutes regulation 101 and in particular, prescribes circumstances when overpaid housing benefit need not be recovered from the person to whom such benefit was paid and prescribes persons from whom such benefit may be recovered in addition to, or instead of, the person to whom it was paid.

Section 73(3) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8) (“the 1992 Act”), one of the enabling provision under which these Regulations are made, was substituted by section 62 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 and brought into operation, for the purposes only of authorising the making of regulations, on 22nd November 2000, by virtue of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security (2000 Act) (Commencement No. 1) Order (Northern Ireland) 2000 (S.R. 2000 No. 358 (C. 16)). Since these Regulations are made before the end of a period of 6 months from the commencement of the provision under which they are made, they are, accordingly, exempt, by virtue of section 150(5)(b) of the 1992 Act, from reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.

These Regulations do not impose any charge on business.