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

F1[ Sharing of functions as regards certain claims and information]N.I.

Textual Amendments

F1S. 5A and preceding cross-heading inserted (1.12.1999) by S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11), arts. 1(4), 68

[F25A Sharing of functions as regards certain claims and information.N.I.

(1)Regulations may, for the purpose of supplementing the persons or bodies to whom claims for relevant benefits may be made, make provision as regards any relevant benefit, for claims for that benefit to be made to any relevant authority (if such claims could not otherwise be made to that authority).

(2)Regulations may make provision for or in connection with—

(a)the forwarding by a relevant authority of—

(i)claims received by virtue of any provision authorised by subsection (1) above, and

(ii)information or evidence supplied in connection with making such claims (whether supplied by persons making the claims or by other persons);

(b)the receiving and forwarding by a relevant authority of information or evidence relating to social security [F3or work] matters supplied by, or the obtaining by a relevant authority of such information or evidence from—

(i)persons making, or who have made, claims for a relevant benefit, or

(ii)other persons in connection with such claims,

including information or evidence not relating to the claims or benefit in question;

(c)the recording by a relevant authority of information or evidence relating to social security [F3or work] matters supplied to, or obtained by, the authority and the holding by the authority of such information or evidence (whether as supplied or obtained or as recorded);

(d)the giving of information or advice with respect to social security [F3or work] matters by a relevant authority to persons making, or who have made, claims for a relevant benefit.

[F4(e)the verification by a relevant authority of information or evidence supplied to or obtained by the authority in connection with a claim for or an award of a relevant benefit.]

(3)In paragraphs (b) [F5, (d) and (e)] of subsection (2) above—

(a)references to claims for a relevant benefit are to such claims whether made as mentioned in subsection (1) above or not; and

(b)references to persons who have made such claims include persons to whom awards of benefit have been made on the claims.

(4)Regulations under this section may make different provision for different areas.

(5)Regulations under any other statutory provision may make such different provision for different areas as appears to the Department expedient in connection with any exercise by regulations under this section of the power conferred by subsection (4) above.

(6)In this section—

(a)“benefit” includes child support (any reference to a claim being read, in relation to child support, as a reference to an application [F6(or an application treated as having been made)] under the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 for a [F7maintenance calculation]);

(b)“relevant authority” means—

(i)a Northern Ireland department,

(ii)a person providing services to a Northern Ireland department,

(iii)any other body established by or under a statutory provision, or

(iv)a person providing services to, or authorised to exercise any function of, such a body;

(c)“relevant benefit” means housing benefit or any other benefit prescribed for the purposes of this section;

(d)[F8 “social security or work matters” ] means matters relating to social security, child support or war pensions [F9, or employment or training] and in this paragraph “war pension ” means a war pension within the meaning of section 25 of the Social Security Act 1989 (establishment and functions of war pensions committees).]

Textual Amendments

F2S. 5A and preceding cross-heading inserted (1.12.1999) by S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11), arts. 1(4), 68

F5Words in s. 5A(3) substituted (29.6.2007) by Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2007 (c. 2), ss. 38(2)(b), 60(2)(a)