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—

    1. a

      labour resulting in the birth of a living child, or

    2. 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.