Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8)

Part I N.I. Claims for and Payments and General Administration of Benefit

[F1 Work-focused interviews] [F2 and work-related activity] N.I.

Textual Amendments

F1 Ss. 2A, 2B and preceding cross-heading inserted (1.12.1999) by S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11), arts. 1(4), 54

F2 Words in s. 2A cross-heading inserted (13.8.2010) by Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2010 (c. 13), ss. 2(3), 36(1)(a)

[F3 2D Work-related activity N.I.

(1) Regulations may make provision for or in connection with imposing on a person who—

(a) is entitled to income support, and

(b) is not a lone parent of a child under the age of 3,

a requirement to undertake work-related activity in accordance with regulations as a condition of continuing to be entitled to the full amount of income support payable apart from the regulations.

(2) Regulations may make provision for or in connection with imposing on a person (“P”) who—

(a) is under pensionable age, and

(b) is a member of a couple the other member of which (“C”) is entitled to a benefit to which subsection (3) applies at a higher rate referable to P,

a requirement to undertake work-related activity in accordance with regulations as a condition of the benefit continuing to be payable to C at that rate.

(3) The benefits to which this subsection applies are—

(a) income support;

(b) an income-based jobseeker's allowance other than a joint-claim jobseeker's allowance; and

(c) an income-related employment and support allowance.

(4) Regulations under this section may, in particular, make provision—

(a) prescribing circumstances in which a person is to be subject to any requirement imposed by the regulations (a “relevant requirement”);

(b) for notifying a person of a relevant requirement;

(c) prescribing the time or times at which a person who is subject to a relevant requirement is required to undertake work-related activity and the amount of work-related activity the person is required at any time to undertake

(d) prescribing circumstances in which a person who is subject to a relevant requirement is, or is not, to be regarded as undertaking work-related activity;

(e) in a case where C is a member of more than one couple, for determining which of the members of the couples is to be subject to a relevant requirement or requiring each of them to be subject to a relevant requirement;

(f) for securing that the appropriate consequence follows if—

(i) a person who is subject to a relevant requirement has failed to comply with the requirement, and

(ii) it is not shown, within a prescribed period, that the person had good cause for that failure;

(g) prescribing the evidence which a person who is subject to a relevant requirement needs to provide in order to show compliance with the requirement;

(h) prescribing matters which are, or are not, to be taken into account in determining whether a person had good cause for any failure to comply with a relevant requirement;

(i) prescribing circumstances in which a person is, or is not, to be regarded as having good cause for any such failure.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4)(f) the appropriate consequence is that the amount of the benefit payable is to be reduced by the prescribed amount until the prescribed time.

(6) Regulations under subsection (5) may, in relation to any such reduction, provide—

(a) for the amount of the reduction to be calculated in the first instance by reference to such amount as may be prescribed;

(b) for the amount as so calculated to be restricted, in prescribed circumstances, to the prescribed extent.

(7) Regulations under this section may include provision that in such circumstances as the regulations may provide a person's obligation under the regulations to undertake work-related activity at a particular time is not to apply, or is to be treated as not having applied.

(8) Regulations under this section must include provision for securing that lone parents are entitled (subject to meeting any prescribed conditions) to restrict the times at which they are required to undertake work-related activity.

(9) For the purposes of this section and sections 2E and 2F—

(a) “couple” has the meaning given by section 133(1) of the Contributions and Benefits Act;

(b) “lone parent” means a person who—

(i) is not a member of a couple, an

(ii) is responsible for, and a member of the same household as, a child;

(c) “prescribed” means specified in, or determined in accordance with, regulations;

(d) “work-related activity”, in relation to a person, means activity which makes it more likely that the person will obtain or remain in work or be able to do so;

(e) any reference to a person attaining pensionable age is, in the case of a man born before [F4 6 December 1953] , a reference to the time when a woman born on the same day as the man would attain pensionable age;

(f) any reference to a benefit payable to C at a higher rate referable to P is a reference to any case where the amount payable is more than it would be if C and P were not members of the same couple.

(10) For the purposes of this section regulations may make provision—

(a) as to circumstances in which one person is to be treated as responsible or not responsible for another;

(b) as to circumstances in which persons are to be treated as being or not being members of the same household.

(11) Information supplied in pursuance of regulations under this section is to be taken for all purposes to be information relating to social security.]

Textual Amendments

F3 Ss. 2D-2H inserted (13.8.2010) by Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2010 (c. 13), ss. 2(2), 36(1)(a)

F4 Words in s. 2D(9)(e) substituted (2.6.2012) by Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2012 (c. 3), s. 34(2), Sch. 1 para. 3