The Social Security (Residential Care Homes, Nursing Homes and Independent Hospitals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Amendment of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations

5.—(1) The Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(1) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) Regulation 34B(2) (transitional provisions for persons in hostels or certain residential accommodation) shall be omitted.

(3) In Schedule 8A(3) (deductions from benefits and direct payment to third parties)—

(a) in paragraph 1 (interpretation) for the definition of “hostel”(4) there shall be substituted the following definition—

““hostel” means an establishment—

(a)

in which there is provided for persons generally, or for a class of persons, accommodation, otherwise than in separate and self-contained premises, and either board or facilities of a kind set out in paragraph 4A(1)(d) adequate to the needs of those persons; and—

(b)

which is—

(i)

managed by or owned by a housing association registered with the Department of the Environment in accordance with Article 124 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(5);

(ii)

operated other than on a commercial basis and in respect of which funds are provided wholly or in part by a government department or public body, or

(iii)

managed by a voluntary organisation or charity and provides care, support or supervision with a view to assisting those persons to be rehabilitated or resettled within the community;

(c)

which is not—

(i)

a residential care home;

(ii)

a nursing home;

(iii)

an independent hospital, or

(iv)

an establishment run by the Abbeyfield Society including all bodies corporate or incorporate which are affiliated to that Society;

(d)

in sub-paragraph (b)(iii) a “voluntary organisation” means any association carrying on any activities otherwise than for the purpose of gain by the association or by individual members thereof, but shall not include any public body;

(e)

in sub-paragraph (c)—

(i)

“independent hospital” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003;

(ii)

“nursing home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 11 of that Order;

(iii)

“residential care home” has the meaning it has for the purposes of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by virtue of Article 10 of that Order;”;

(b) in paragraph 4(6) (miscellaneous accommodation costs)—

(i) in sub-paragraph (1)(7)—

(aa) in head (a) for “in a residential care home or nursing home” there shall be substituted “residing in a residential care home, nursing home, an Abbeyfield Home or an independent hospital”;

(bb) in head (b) sub-heads (i) and (ii) shall be omitted;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (2)(8) for head (a) there shall be substituted the following head—

“(a) in a case where a beneficiary is not in accommodation as specified in regulation 15(7)(c) of the State Pension Credit Regulations, an amount equal to the award of income support, jobseeker’s allowance, or guarantee credit payable to the claimant but excluding an amount, if any, which when added to any other income of the beneficiary as determined in accordance with regulation 28 of the Income Support Regulations, regulation 93 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations or regulation 17 of the State Pension Credit Regulations will equal the amount prescribed in respect of personal expenses in sub-paragraph (2A), and”.

(1)

S.R. 1987 No. 465; relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 1989 No.398, S.R. 1991 No. 488, S.R. 1993 No. 149, S.R. 1996 No. 354, S.R. 1999 No. 472, S.R. 2002 No. 132 and S.R. 2003 Nos. 191 and 412

(2)

Regulation 34B was inserted by regulation 5 of S.R. 1989 No. 398 and amended by Article 9(2) of S.R. 1999 No. 472 (C. 36) and regulation 13 of S.R. 2003 No. 191

(3)

Schedule 8A was inserted by regulation 2(3) of, and the Schedule to, S.R. 1988 No. 67

(4)

The definition of “hostel” was inserted by regulation 6(7)(a)(ii) of S.R. 1991 No. 488 and amended by paragraph 3(3) of Schedule 2 to, S.R. 1993 No. 149 and regulation 3(2) of S.R. 2002 No. 132

(5)

S.I. 1981/156 (N.I. 3)

(6)

Paragraph 4 was substituted by paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 1 to, S.R. 1993 No. 149

(7)

Sub-paragraph (1) was amended by regulation 8(a)(ii) of S.R. 1989 No. 398, regulation 2(26)(d)(ii) of S.R. 1996 No. 354, Article 9(2) of S.R. 1999 No. 472 (C. 36), regulation 3(3)(a) of S.R. 2002 No. 132 and regulation 2(a) to (d) of S.R. 2003 No. 412

(8)

Sub-paragraph (2) was substituted by regulation 2(e) of S.R. 2003 No. 412