PART 2ENTITLEMENT
Minimum age
Cases where the minimum age is 168
1
For the basic condition in Article 9(1)(a) of the Order (at least 18 years old) the minimum age is 16 years old where a person—
a
has limited capability for work,
b
is awaiting an assessment under Part 5 to determine whether the person has limited capability for work and has a statement given F1... in accordance with the Medical Evidence Regulations which provides that the person is not fit for work,
c
has regular and substantial caring responsibilities for a severely disabled person,
d
is responsible for a child,
e
is a member of a couple the other member of which is responsible for a child or a qualifying young person (but only where the other member meets the basic conditions in Article 9 of the Order),
f
is pregnant, and it is 11 weeks or less before her expected week of confinement, or was pregnant and it is 15 weeks or less since the date of her confinement, or
g
is without parental support (see paragraph (3)).
2
Paragraphs (1)(c), (f) and (g) do not include any person who is a care leaver.
3
For the purposes of paragraph (1)(g) a young person is without parental support where that person is not being looked after by an authority and—
a
has no parent,
b
cannot live with their parents because—
i
the person is estranged from them, or
ii
there is a serious risk to the person's physical or mental health, or that the person would suffer significant harm if the person lived with them, or
c
is living away from their parents, and neither parent is able to support the person financially because that parent—
i
has a physical or mental impairment,
ii
is detained in custody pending trial or sentence upon conviction or under a sentence imposed by a court, or
iii
is prohibited from entering or re-entering Northern Ireland.
4
In this regulation—
“parent” includes any person acting in the place of a parent;
“care leaver” means an eligible child for the purposes of Article 34A of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 M1 or a relevant child for the purposes of Article 34B of that Order;
“confinement” means—
- a
labour resulting in the birth of a living child, or
- b
labour after 24 weeks of pregnancy resulting in the birth of a child whether alive or dead, and where a woman's labour begun on one day results in the birth of a child on another day she is to be taken to be confined on the date of the birth.
- a