2004 No. 428

FAMILY LAW
CHILD SUPPORT
SOCIAL SECURITY

The Child Support and Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

Made

Coming into operation in accordance with regulation 1

The Department for Social Development, in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 16(3), 18(1)(a), 19(3), 28B(2)(c), 47 and 48(4) of, and paragraphs 5, 6(2), (4) and (6), 9(d), 10(1) and 11 of Schedule 1, paragraph 2(a) of Schedule 4A and paragraphs 5(1) and 6 of Schedule 4B to, the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 19911 and now vested in it2, and section 28 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 20003 and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement1

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Child Support and Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 and, subject to paragraph (2), shall come into operation on 7th October 2004.

2

Regulations 2 and 5 shall come into operation, for the purposes of any type of case which is not one in relation to which 3rd March 2003 is the day appointed for the coming into operation of sections 1(2), 8 and 9 of, and paragraphs 11 and 16 of Schedule 3 to, the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 20004, on the day on which those provisions come into operation in relation to that type of case.

Amendment of the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations2

In regulation 8(1) of the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 19925 (disclosure of information to a court or tribunal) after sub-paragraph (b) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph –

cc

a person with a right of appeal under the Order to an appeal tribunal,

Amendment of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations3

In regulation 16(1) of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 19926 (revision of decisions) –

a

after sub-paragraph (d) the word “or” shall be omitted; and

b

after sub-paragraph (e) there shall be added –

or

f

if an appeal is made under Article 22 of the Order7 against a decision within the time prescribed in regulation 31 of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 19998, or in a case to which regulation 32 of those Regulations applies within the time prescribed in that regulation, but the appeal has not been determined.

Amendment of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations4

1

The Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 19929 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).

2

In Schedule 1 (calculation of N and M) in paragraph 1(1)10 after head (g) there shall be inserted the following head –

gg

any statutory paternity pay under Part XIIZA of the Contributions and Benefits Act or any statutory adoption pay under Part XIIZB of that Act11;

3

In Schedule 2 (amounts to be disregarded when calculating or estimating N and M) in paragraph 35 the words “by virtue of regulations made” and “, or by virtue of the provisions of Article 55” shall be omitted.

4

In Schedule 3B12 (amount to be allowed in respect of travelling costs) –

a

in paragraph 1 for the definition of “straight-line distance” there shall be substituted the following definition –

  • “straight-line distance” means the straight-line distance measured in kilometres and calculated to 2 decimal places, and, where that distance is not a whole number of kilometres, rounded to the nearest whole number of kilometres, a distance which exceeds a whole number of kilometres by 0.50 of a kilometre being rounded up;

b

in paragraphs 7, 14 and 20 –

i

for “150”, wherever it occurs, there shall be substituted “240”, and

ii

for “10 pence” there shall be substituted “6 pence”; and

c

in paragraph 8(1) and (2)13 for “13” there shall be substituted “14”.

Amendment of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations5

In regulation 6B of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 199914 (circumstances in which a child support decision may not be superseded) –

a

for paragraph (3) there shall be substituted the following paragraph –

3

Where the application for a supersession is made on more than one ground, if those grounds which do not relate to the net income of the non-resident parent lead to a superseding decision this regulation shall not apply to the ground relating to the net income of that parent.

b

after paragraph (4) there shall be added the following paragraph –

5

Where an application has been made to which paragraph (1) applied (“application A”) and a further application (“application B”) is made for a supersession on a ground other than one relating to the net income of the non-resident parent, the Department may make a superseding decision on the basis that application A was made at the same time as application B.

Amendment of the Child Support (Maintenance Calculation Procedure) Regulations6

1

The Child Support (Maintenance Calculation Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 200115 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

2

In regulation 28(1)16 (effective dates of maintenance calculations in specified cases) after sub-paragraph (c) there shall be added the following sub-paragraph –

d

except where the parent with care has made a request under Article 9(5) of the Order, where on the date the application is made, or treated as made under regulation 3, there is in force a maintenance calculation in relation to the same non-resident parent and a different person with care, and the maintenance calculation in force when the application was made has ceased to have effect before a decision has been made in respect of that application, the effective date of the maintenance calculation made in response to the application shall be –

i

where the date of notification to the non-resident parent is before the date on which the maintenance calculation in force has ceased to have effect, the day following the day on which that maintenance calculation ceases to have effect;

ii

where the date of notification to the non-resident parent is after the date on which the maintenance calculation in force has ceased to have effect, the date of notification to the non-resident parent.

3

In regulation 30(1)(c)17 (transitional provision – effective dates and reduced benefit decisions) for “and in sub-paragraph (c)(iii)” there shall be substituted “, in sub-paragraph (c)(iii) and the first time it occurs in sub-paragraph (d)”.

Amendment of the Child Support (Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases) Regulations7

1

The Child Support (Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 200118 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

2

In regulation 5(1) (nil rate) sub-paragraph (i) shall be omitted.

3

In the Schedule (net weekly income) –

a

in paragraph 4(1) after head (d) there shall be inserted the following head –

dd

any statutory paternity pay under Part XIIZA of the Contributions and Benefits Act or any statutory adoption pay under Part XIIZB of that Act;

b

after paragraph 16 there shall be added the following Part –

PART VIBENEFITS, PENSIONS AND ALLOWANCES

17

1

Subject to paragraph (2), the net weekly income of a non-resident parent shall include payments made by way of benefits, pensions and allowances prescribed in regulation 4 for the purposes of paragraph 4(1)(b) and (c) of Schedule 1 to the Order, to a non-resident parent or his partner at the rate payable at the effective date.

2

Paragraph (1) applies only for the purpose of establishing whether the non-resident parent is a person to whom paragraph 5(b) of Schedule 1 to the Order applies.

Amendment of the Child Support (Transitional Provisions) Regulations8

1

The Child Support (Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 200119 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (9).

2

In regulation 2(1) (interpretation) –

a

after the definition of “the Act” there shall be inserted the following definition –

  • “the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations” means the Child Support (Arrears, Interest and Adjustment of Maintenance Assessments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 199220;

b

in the definition of “new amount” for “in accordance with the conversion decision” there shall be substituted “from the case conversion date”.

3

In regulation 321 (decision and notice of decision) for paragraph (2) there shall be substituted the following paragraph –

2

Where the Department acts in accordance with paragraph (1), the information used for the purposes of that supersession will be –

a

that held by the Department on the calculation date; or

b

where –

i

regulation 5(b) applies, and

ii

the Department is unable to make the decision required to be made in accordance with that regulation on the basis of the information referred to in sub-paragraph (a),

that which was used or considered to make the maintenance assessment to be superseded in accordance with regulation 3(1)(a) or (b).

4

After regulation 422 (revision, supersession and appeal of conversion decisions) there shall be inserted the following regulation –

Revision and supersession of an adjustment4A

Where, on or after the calculation date, an application is made to the Department or it acts on its own initiative to revise or supersede an adjustment of the amounts payable under a maintenance assessment, it may revise or supersede that adjustment in accordance with the Decisions and Appeals Regulations.

5

After regulation 5 (outstanding applications at calculation date) there shall be inserted the following regulation –

Outstanding revisions and supersessions at calculation date5A

Regulation 5 shall apply in the same way to a decision of the Department acting on its own initiative under Article 18 or 19 of the former Order to revise or supersede a maintenance assessment, an interim maintenance assessment or a departure direction as it does to an application made for the same purpose.

6

In regulation 9(1)23 (amount of child support maintenance payable) for “Where” there shall be substituted “Subject to regulation 9A, where”.

7

After regulation 9 there shall be inserted the following regulations –

Adjustment of the amount of child support maintenance payable9A

1

Subject to paragraph (2), where –

a

there has been an overpayment of child support maintenance under a maintenance assessment; and

b

the amount payable under that maintenance assessment has been adjusted under regulation 10 of the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations24 as it applies to a maintenance assessment,

that adjustment shall apply to the new amount or the transitional amount in the conversion decision, as the case may be, if –

i

the overpayment remains on the case conversion date, and

ii

the Department considers it appropriate in all the circumstances of the case having regard to the matters set out in regulation 10(1)(b) of the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations as it applies to a conversion decision.

2

Where the conversion decision relates to more than one parent with care, the adjustment of the amount payable under a maintenance assessment which applies to the new amount or the transitional amount, as the case may be, in accordance with paragraph (1) shall only apply in respect of the apportioned amount payable to the parent with care in relation to whom the maintenance assessment subject to the adjustment was made.

3

In paragraph (2) the “apportioned amount” shall have the meaning given in regulation 11(4)25.

Attribution of payments9B

Where –

a

there are arrears of child support maintenance under a maintenance assessment; and

b

the Department has attributed any payment of child support maintenance made by an absent parent to child support maintenance due as it thinks fit, in accordance with regulation 926 of the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations as it applies to a maintenance assessment,

that attribution of payments shall apply to the new amount or the transitional amount in the conversion decision, as the case may be, if –

i

the arrears remain on the case conversion date, and

ii

the Department has made that attribution of payments as it thought fit, in accordance with regulation 9 of the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations as it applies to a conversion decision.

8

In regulation 1627 (conversion calculation and conversion decision) –

a

in paragraph (1) for sub-paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph –

b

taking into account the information used in accordance with regulation 3(2); and

b

after paragraph (2B)28 there shall be inserted the following paragraph –

2C

For the purposes of regulations 9 and 10 of the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations, a conversion decision shall be treated on or after the case conversion date as if it were a maintenance calculation.

9

In regulation 27 (subsequent decision with effect in transitional period-amount payable) –

a

in paragraph (9)29, for “Subject to paragraph (10), where” there shall be substituted “Where”;

b

in paragraph (10)30 –

i

for “Where” there shall be substituted “Subject to paragraph (11), where”, and

ii

for the words from “so that the subsequent decision” to the end there shall be substituted “as if decision A had not been made.”; and

c

after paragraph (10) there shall be added the following paragraph –

11

In the circumstances set out in paragraph (10), paragraph (9) shall not apply where the decision in place before decision A was made was the decision which took effect from the case conversion date.

Amendment of the Child Support (Variations) Regulations9

1

The Child Support (Variations) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 200131 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).

2

In regulation 1(2) (citation, commencement and interpretation) after the definition of “Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases Regulations” there shall be inserted the following definition –

  • “partner” has the same meaning as in paragraph 10C(4) of Schedule 1 to the Order;

3

In regulation 7(5)(b)32 (prescribed circumstances) the words from “and for this purpose” to the end shall be omitted.

4

In regulation 27(5) (effect on maintenance calculation – general) for “paragraph 4(1)(b)” there shall be substituted “paragraph 4(1)”.

Revocations10

The following regulations are hereby revoked –

a

regulation 20(4) of the Social Security and Child Support (Jobseeker’s Allowance) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 199633; and

b

regulation 7(7)(a) of the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 200334.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 6th October 2004.

John O'NeillA senior officer of theDepartment for Social Development

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations provide for the amendment of various sets of Regulations relating to child support:

  • the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 (“the Information Regulations”);

  • the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 (“the Maintenance Assessment Procedure Regulations”);

  • the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 (“ the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations”);

  • the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (“the Decisions and Appeals Regulations”);

  • the Child Support (Maintenance Calculation Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 (“the Maintenance Calculation Procedure Regulations”);

  • the Child Support (Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases ) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 (“the Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases Regulations”);

  • the Child Support (Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 (“the Transitional Regulations”); and

  • the Child Support (Variations) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 (“the Variations Regulations”).

Regulation 1 makes provision for citation and commencement.

Regulation 2 amends the Information Regulations to clarify that the Department may disclose information to all the parties to an appeal for the purposes of an appeal to an appeal tribunal.

Regulation 3 amends regulation 16 of the Maintenance Assessment Procedure Regulations to provide a new ground for revision in a case where an appeal is made within the time limits provided for in regulations 31 and 32 of those Regulations and that appeal has not been determined.

Regulation 4 amends the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations. Regulation 4(2) amends paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 1 to those Regulations to provide that any statutory paternity pay or any statutory adoption pay are brought within the definition of “earnings” in the case of employment as an employed earner for the purposes of calculating the net income of an absent parent and a parent with care. Regulation 4(3) and (4)(c) makes minor technical amendments. Regulation 4(4)(a) and (b) amends Schedule 3B to the Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases Regulations to provide for the calculation of costs in respect of travelling between home and work to be made in metric equivalents.

Regulation 5 amends the Decisions and Appeals Regulations. Regulation 5(a) amends regulation 6B(3) of those Regulations to provide that where the application for supersession is made on more than one ground, if one of the grounds which does not relate to the net income of the non-resident parent leads to a supersession, regulation 6B shall not apply to the ground which relates to the net income of the non-resident parent. Regulation 5(b) adds a new paragraph (5) to regulation 6B of the Decisions and Appeals Regulations to provide that where there has been an earlier application for a supersession to which paragraph (1) of regulation 6B applied, and there is a later application for supersession on a ground other than that relating to the net income of the non-resident parent, the superseding decision may be made on the basis that the earlier application was made at the same time as the later application.

Regulation 6 amends the Maintenance Calculation Procedure Regulations. Regulation 6(2) amends regulation 28(1) of those Regulations to provide effective dates for a maintenance calculation which is made in response to an application where there is at the time of that application a maintenance calculation in force in relation to the same non-resident parent and a different person with care and that maintenance calculation ceases to have effect. Regulation 6(3) makes an amendment in consequence of the amendment made by regulation 6(2).

Regulation 7 amends the Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases Regulations. Regulation 7(2) makes an amendment in consequence of the amendment made by regulation 7(3)(b). Regulation 7(3)(a) amends paragraph 4(1) of the Schedule to those Regulations to provide that any statutory paternity pay or any statutory adoption pay are brought within the definition of “earnings” in the case of employment as an employed earner for the purposes of calculating the net weekly income of a non-resident parent. Regulation 7(3)(b) adds a new Part VI to the Schedule to the Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases Regulations to include benefits, pensions and allowances prescribed under paragraph 4(1)(b) and (c) of Schedule 1 to the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991, paid to a non-resident parent or his partner, in the list of payments which are aggregated to calculate the net weekly income of the non-resident parent, for the purposes of establishing whether that non-resident parent is a person to whom paragraph 5(b) of Schedule 1 to that Order applies.

Regulation 8 amends the Transitional Regulations. Regulation 8(2) amends the interpretation provision of those Regulations. Regulation 8(3) substitutes regulation 3(2) of the Transitional Regulations to provide that where the Department supersedes under regulation 3(1)(a) or (b) in a case to which regulation 5(b) applies it will (where it is unable to make the decision on the basis of the information held at the calculation date) use the information used or considered to make the maintenance assessment to be superseded. Regulation 8(4) inserts a new regulation 4A into the Transitional Regulations to provide that where an adjustment has been made to a maintenance assessment it may be revised or superseded under the Decisions and Appeals Regulations. Regulation 8(5) inserts a new regulation 5A into the Transitional Regulations to provide that regulation 5 applies in the same way to a decision of the Department acting on its own initiative to revise or supersede a maintenance assessment, an interim maintenance assessment or a departure direction as it does to an application made for the same purpose. Regulation 8(6) makes an amendment in consequence of that made by regulation 8(7). Regulation 8(7) inserts new regulations 9A and 9B into the Transitional Regulations. Regulation 9A provides that where there has been an adjustment made to a maintenance assessment, it may be applied to the new amount or transitional amount payable under a conversion decision, where the overpayment remains on the case conversion date and the Department considers it appropriate in all the circumstances of the case. In a case where there is more than one parent with care the adjustment to the conversion decision shall only apply to the parent with care in respect of whom the maintenance assessment was made. Regulation 9B provides that where there are arrears of child support maintenance payable under a maintenance assessment and the Department has attributed a payment of that maintenance, it may be applied to the new amount or transitional amount payable under a conversion decision where the arrears are outstanding on the case conversion date. Regulation 8(8)(a) makes an amendment in consequence of the amendment made by regulation 8(3). Regulation 8(8)(b) makes a minor technical amendment. Regulation 8(9) amends regulation 27 of the Transitional Regulations to make provision for specific cases where a subsequent decision is made.

Regulation 9 amends the Variations Regulations. Regulation 9(2) inserts a new definition of “partner” into those Regulations. Regulation 9(3) makes an amendment in consequence of the amendment made by regulation 9(2). Regulation 9(4) makes a minor technical amendment.

Regulation 10 makes consequential revocations.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this rule as it has no impact on the costs of business.