Explanatory note

These Regulations provide for variations to the rate of child maintenance payable under the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (“the Order”) consequent upon the introduction of changes to the child support system made by the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000 (“the Act”). Subject to savings for transitional purposes these Regulations revoke the Child Support Departure Direction and Consequential Amendments Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (“the Departure Direction Regulations”).

These Regulations come into operation at different times for different cases according to the dates on which provisions of the Act which are relevant to these Regulations are commenced for different types of cases.

Part 1 (regulations 1 to 3) contains general provisions relating to citation, commencement and interpretation, the giving or sending of documents and the determination of amounts as weekly amounts.

Part II (regulations 4 to 9) sets out the procedure for making and determining applications for a variation. This includes the ability to reject an application on a preliminary consideration. Among the reasons for this may be because the application is for an amount which does not exceed a threshold applicable to the ground, or because a circumstance prescribed for the purposes of Article 28B of the Order, in regulation 7, applies. The Department for Social Development is enabled to request further information (regulation 8) and may invite representations (regulation 9).

Part III (regulations 10 to 15) gives details of what constitutes expenses for the purposes of the ground for a variation in paragraph 2 of Schedule 4B to the Order. Part IV (regulations 16 and 17 and the Schedule) is concerned with a variation under paragraph 3 of Schedule 4B to the Order, in relation to a property or capital transfer, and Part V (regulations 18 to 20) concerns the additional cases for which provision is made in paragraph 4 of that Schedule. The factors to be taken into account in determining whether it would be just and equitable to agree a variation, referred to in Article 28F of the Order, are set out in Part VI (regulation 21).

Part VII (regulations 22 to 30) provides for the effective date of maintenance calculations which take account of a variation, for the way in which each type of variation is to affect the non-resident parent’s liability, for situations where a variation may be applied without an application and for the circumstances, for the purposes of Article 28F (3) of the Order, in which a variation is not to be agreed to.

Part VIII (regulations 31 and 32) prescribes the amount payable under the regular payments condition for the purposes of Article 28C(2)(b) of the Order and benefit for the purposes of Article 28E of the Order.

Part IX (regulation 33) provides for the revocation, with savings for transitional purposes, of the Departure Direction Regulations.

Articles 28A(5), 28B(2)(c), 28C(2)(b) and (5), 28E(1), 28F(2)(b) and (3)(b) and 28G(3) of, and paragraphs 1, 2(a), 4 and 5(1) of Schedule 4A and paragraphs 2(2) to (5), 3(1) and (2), 4, 5(1) and (3) to (5) and 6 of Schedule 4B to, the Order are some of the enabling provisions under which these Regulations are made. They are substituted or amended by sections 5 to 7 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Act and were brought into operation, for the purpose only of making regulations, on 22nd November 2000 by virtue of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security (2000 Act) (Commencement No. 1) Order (Northern Ireland) 2000 (S.R. 2000 No. 358 (C. 16)).

The impact on business of these Regulations was covered in the Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Act, in accordance with, and in consequence of which, these Regulations are made. A copy of that Assessment may be obtained, free of charge, from Social Security Policy and Legislation Division, Castle Buildings, Stormont, Belfast BT4 3SQ.