The Housing Benefit (Abolition of Benefit Periods Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

PART 4AMENDMENT OF OTHER PROVISIONS

Amendment of regulation 16 of the Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations

27.  In regulation 16(1) of the Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(1) (savings provision) after “1st April 1996” there shall be added “but as if any references to a benefit period were references to an award of housing benefit”.

Amendment of regulation 5 of the Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 4) Regulations

28.  In regulation 5 of the Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 4) Regulations (Northern Ireland)1997(2) (savings) –

(a)in paragraph (2A)(3) “makes a further claim for housing benefit under regulation 72(11) to (13) of the principal Regulations, where he” shall be omitted, and

(b)in paragraph (2B)(4) after “principal Regulations” there shall be inserted “as in operation immediately before 5th April 2004”.

Amendment of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations

29.  Regulations 9(b) of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(5) (provisions which do not apply) is hereby revoked.

Amendment of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) (Abolition of Benefit Periods Amendment) Regulations

30.  In the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) (Abolition of Benefit Periods Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(6) Part 3 (transitory provisions), Part 4 (consequential and transitional provisions), except for regulations 6 and 11(a), and Part 5 (application and amendment of other provisions) are hereby revoked.

Amendment of regulations 7 and 8 of the Housing Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations

31.—(1) In regulation 7(7) of the Housing Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001(8) (decisions superseding earlier decisions) after paragraph (2) there shall be inserted the following paragraph –

“(2ZA) The appropriate relevant authority may, upon its own initiative, make a decision under paragraph 4 of Schedule 7 to the Act in any case to which regulation 10A of the Housing Benefit Regulations (decisions) applies.”.

(2) In regulation 8(9) of the Housing Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 (date from which a decision superseding an earlier decision takes effect) after paragraph (6) there shall be inserted the following paragraph –

“(6A) Except in a case where entitlement to housing benefit ceases, where an appropriate relevant authority has made a rent decision under regulation 10A of the Housing Benefit Regulations, any decision to which regulation 7(2ZA) applies which adopts that rent decision shall take effect from –

(a)in a case where the amount of the appropriate relevant authority’s rent decision has increased or remains unchanged, and –

(i)rent is payable weekly or in multiples of weeks, the first day of the benefit week following the last day of the 52 week period has elapsed since the appropriate relevant authority made its last decision;

(ii)rent is payable other than in accordance with head (i), the first day following the last day of the 52 week period has elapsed since the appropriate relevant authority made its last decision;

(b)in a case where the amount of the appropriate relevant authority’s rent decision has decreased, the first day of the benefit week following the date on which that rent decision was made by the appropriate relevant authority.”.

Amendment of the Social Security (Back to Work Bonus and Lone Parent Run-on Amendment and Revocation) Regulations

32.—(1) Regulation 3 of the Social Security (Back to Work Bonus and Lone Parent Run-on Amendment and Revocation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(10) is hereby revoked.

(2)

S.R. 1997 No. 170; relevant amending regulations are S.R. 1997 No. 337 and S.R. 1998 No. 324

(3)

Paragraph (2A) was inserted by regulation 2(4)(b) of S.R. 1997 No. 377

(4)

Paragraph (2B) was inserted by regulation 2(4)(b) of S.R. 1997 No. 377 and amended by regulation 12(c) of S.R. 1998 No. 324

(7)

Regulation 7 was amended by regulation 4(2) of S.R. 2003 No. 224 and regulation 22 of S.R. 2003 No. 294 which is revoked by regulation 30 of these Regulations

(8)

S.R. 2001 No. 213; relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 2002 No. 80, S.R. 2003 Nos. 197, 224, 294 and 418

(9)

Regulation 8 was amended by regulation 8(5) of S.R. 2002 No. 80, regulation 19 of S.R. 2003 No. 197, regulation 4(3) of S.R. 2003 No. 224 and regulation 4(5) of S.R. 2003 No. 418