{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/draft-discretionary-support-regulations-northern-ireland-2016/regulation-10",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/draft-discretionary-support-regulations-northern-ireland-2016/regulation-10.json",
  "legislation": "nidsr/2016/9780338005540",
  "legislation_title": "The Discretionary Support Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/draft-discretionary-support-regulations-northern-ireland-2016",
  "path": "regulation/10",
  "kind": "regulation",
  "number": "10",
  "heading": "Basic eligibility conditions",
  "text": "(1) A discretionary support award may be made where—\n(a) an extreme, exceptional or crisis situation presents a significant risk to the health, safety or well-being of the claimant or a member of the claimant’s immediate family;\n(b) the need for discretionary support occurs in Northern Ireland;\n(c) the claimant’s income does not exceed the annual income threshold;\n(d) the claimant is–\n(i) at least 18 years old, except where child benefit is payable in respect of the claimant; or\n(ii) a minimum of 16 years old in the case of a young person who is without parental support; and\n(e) the need must be satisfied in Northern Ireland.\n(2) For the purposes of this regulation a person is not entitled to a discretionary support award unless the person—\n(a) is ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland; and\n(b) is present in Northern Ireland.\n(3) Except in the case of a disaster, discretionary support shall not be awarded in respect of —\n(a) living expenses for which a discretionary support award has already been made;\n(b) a claim for the same or other items made within any rolling 12 month period from the date an award is made by the same claimant; or\n(c) any loan in relation to regulation 11(1)(c) or (d) which exceeds the 3 loan maximum as set out in sub-paragraph (d).\n(d) Subject to regulation 12 a claimant is not eligible to be awarded more than three loans or one grant in a rolling 12 month period.\n(4) In this regulation young person is without parental support means, where that person is not being looked after by an authority and—\n(a) has no parents;\n(b) has parents, but cannot live with those parents because–\n(i) the person is estranged from them; or\n(ii) there is a serious risk to the person’s physical or mental health, or that person would suffer significant harm if the person lived with them; or\n(c) is living away from those parents, and neither parent is able to support the person financially because that parent–\n(i) has a physical or mental impairment; or\n(ii) is detained in custody pending trial or sentence upon conviction or under a sentence imposed by a court.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nidsr/2016/9780338005540/regulation/10",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-30T15:40:41.494463+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}