PART 1INTRODUCTION

Citation, commencement and effectI11

1

This Order may be cited as the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order (Northern Ireland) 2017 and, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), shall come into operation for the purposes of—

a

this Article and Articles 2 and 7, on 1st April 2017;

b

Article 3—

i

in so far as it relates to any increase to which Article 7(9)(b) applies, on 1st April 2017, and

ii

for all other purposes, on 10th April 2017;

c

Articles 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 19, on 10th April 2017;

d

Article 8, in so far as it relates to a particular beneficiary, on the first day of the first benefit week to commence for that beneficiary on or after 1st April 2017 and, for the purpose of this sub-paragraph, “benefit week” has the same meaning as in regulation 2(1) of the Computation of Earnings Regulations;

e

Article 9, on 6th April 2017;

f

Article 10, on 2nd April 2017, except for the purpose of determining the rate of maternity allowance in accordance with section 35A(1) of the Contributions and Benefits Act5 (appropriate weekly rate of maternity allowance under section 35) for which purpose it shall come into operation on 10th April 2017;

g

Article 11, on 2nd April 2017;

h

Articles 17 and 18, on 6th April 2017;

i

Articles 20 and 21, in so far as they relate to a particular beneficiary, on the first day of the first benefit week to commence for that beneficiary on or after 10th April 2017 and, for the purpose of this sub-paragraph, “benefit week” has the same meaning as in the Income Support Regulations;

j

Articles 22 and 23, in relation to a case where rent is payable at intervals of a week or any multiple thereof, on 3rd April 2017, and in relation to any other case, on 1st April 2017;

k

Article 24, in so far as it relates to a particular beneficiary, on the first day of the first benefit week to commence for that beneficiary on or after 10th April 2017 and, for the purpose of this sub-paragraph, “benefit week” has the same meaning as in the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations;

l

Article 25, in so far as it relates to a particular beneficiary, on the first day of the first benefit week to commence for that beneficiary on or after 10th April 2017 and, for the purpose of this sub-paragraph, “benefit week” has the same meaning as in the State Pension Credit Regulations;

m

Article 26, in so far as it relates to a particular beneficiary, on the first day of the first benefit week to commence for that beneficiary on or after 10th April 2017 and, for the purpose of this sub-paragraph, “benefit week” has the same meaning as in the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008;

n

Article 27, in so far as it relates to a particular beneficiary, on the first day of the first benefit week to commence for that beneficiary on or after 10th April 2017 and, for the purpose of this sub-paragraph, “benefit week” has the same meaning as in the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2016;

o

Article 28, in so far as it relates to a particular beneficiary, on the first day of the first assessment period to commence for that beneficiary on or after 10th April 2017 and, for the purpose of this sub-paragraph, “assessment period” has the same meaning as in Article 12(2) of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 20156; and

p

Article 29, on 9th May 2017.

2

In so far as Articles 3, 4, 10, 12, 19 and 27 relate to a beneficiary in favour of whom an award of universal credit is in force, those Articles shall come into operation for the purposes of determining the beneficiary’s unearned income in relation to that award on the same day as Article 28 comes into operation for that beneficiary.

3

The changes made in the sums specified for rates or amounts of benefit in Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13 and 14 shall take effect for each case on the date specified in relation to that case in Article 7.