The Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (Commencement No. 8 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2017

Transition from old style JSA N.I.

13.—(1) This Article applies where a person—

(a) makes, or is treated as making, a claim for a jobseeker’s allowance and, under Article 6, the 1995 Order, as amended by the provisions of Part 1 of Schedule 12 to the 2015 Order that remove references to an income-based jobseeker’s allowance, applies in relation to the claim; or

(b) (i) has an old style JSA award (whether or not the award was made to the person as a member of a joint-claim couple) immediately before the appointed day in relation to a case of a claim for universal credit referred to in Article 6(2) (and any award made in respect of the claim), and

(ii) the old style JSA award consists of or includes a contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance (which allowance therefore continues as a new style JSA award),

and, in the case of sub-paragraph (a), the condition referred to in paragraph (2) is satisfied.

(2) The condition is that the person previously made, or was treated as having made, a claim for a jobseeker’s allowance (whether or not as a member of a joint-claim couple) and the 1995 Order, as it has effect apart from the provisions of Part 1 of Schedule 12 to the 2015 Order that remove references to an income-based jobseeker’s allowance, applied in relation to the claim.

(3) Where this Article applies, the JSA Regulations 2016 are to be read as if—

(a) in regulation 15(3)(b) (victims of domestic violence), the reference to regulation 15 applying to the claimant included a reference to the claimant having been treated as being available for employment under regulation 14A(2) or (6) of the JSA Regulations 1996;

(b) in regulation 35(1) (waiting days), where a person was entitled to an old style JSA award with effect from the first day of a jobseeking period by virtue of regulation 46(1)(a) of the JSA Regulations 1996 and, with effect from the second or third day of that period, that award continued as a new style JSA award in the circumstances referred to in paragraph (1)(b) of this article, the reference to a jobseeker’s allowance included a reference to the old style JSA award;

(c) in regulation 36 (jobseeking period)—

(i) the jobseeking period in relation to a claimant included any period that, under regulation 47 of the JSA Regulations 1996 (jobseeking period), forms part of the jobseeking period for the purposes of the 1995 Order; and

(ii) in paragraph (3), the reference to a day that is to be treated as a day in respect of which the claimant was entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance included a reference to any day that, under regulation 47(4) of the JSA Regulations 1996, is to be treated as a day in respect of which the claimant was entitled to a contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance;

(d) in regulation 40 (persons temporarily absent from Northern Ireland), where a person had an old style JSA award in the circumstances referred to in paragraph (1)(b) of this Article, the reference in paragraph (2)(b), (3)(a) and (c), (5)(a) and (6)(b) to entitlement to a jobseeker’s allowance included a reference to the old style JSA award; and

(e) in regulation 45 (short periods of sickness), after paragraph (7) there were inserted(1)—

“(8) Where—

(a) a person has been treated under regulation 55(1) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 as capable of work or as not having limited capability for work for a certain period; and

(b) these Regulations apply to that person with effect from a day (“the relevant day”) within that period,

the person is to be treated for the part of that period that begins with the relevant day as capable of work or as not having limited capability for work.

(9) Where paragraph (8) applies to a person and the conditions in paragraph (1)(a) to (c) are fulfilled in relation to that person on any day within the part of a period referred to in paragraph (8), the requirement of paragraph (1) to treat the person as capable of work or as not having limited capability for work is to be regarded as satisfied with respect to the fulfilment of those conditions on that day.

(10) For the purposes of paragraph (3), where paragraph (8) applies to a person, paragraph (3) is to apply to the person as though the preceding provisions of this regulation had applied to the person with respect to the person having been treated for a period, under regulation 55(1) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 and paragraph (8), as capable of work or as not having limited capability for work.”.

(4) Where this Article applies, the 1995 Order is to be read as though, in Article 7 of the 1995 Order, the reference to a jobseeker’s allowance in paragraph (1) and the first reference to a jobseeker’s allowance in paragraph (2) included a reference to a contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance.

(5) For the purposes of this Article, “joint-claim couple” has the meaning given in article 3(4) of the 1995 Order.

Commencement Information

I1 Art. 13 in operation at made date

(1)

Paragraph (7) was added by regulation 10(9) of S.R. 2017 No. 116.