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The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments No. 4) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

S.R. 2004/389 · Made 9 September 2004 · Extends to Northern Ireland

Up to date with all changes known to legislation.gov.uk, revised to 20 November 2006.

HOUSING; RATES; SOCIAL SECURITY

Made 9th September 2004

Coming into operation 4th October 2004

The Department for Social Development, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 122(1)(a) and (d), 132(3), (4)(a) and (b), 133(2)(e) and 171(1), (3) and (4) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992f1, section 5(1)(h), (j) and (2) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992f2 and Articles 14(1), (4)(a) and (b), and 36(2) of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995f3 and now vested in itf4, and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnelf5, in so far as regulations 2(1), (2)(a), (3), (4)(a) and (6) and 3(1), (2)(a) and (4) are concerned and after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee that proposals in respect of those Regulations should not be referred to itf6, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

1992 c. 7; section 171(1) was amended by paragraph 5 of Schedule 4 to the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c. 21)

f2

1992 c. 8; sub-section (2)(aa) was inserted by paragraph 22 of Schedule 2 to the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2705 (N.I. 15)), sub-section (2)(ab) was inserted by paragraph 3(a) of Schedule 1 to the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 (c. 14) and sub-section (2)(c) and (d) were repealed by Schedule 6 to the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c. 21)

f3

S.I. 1995/2705 (N.I. 15); Article 36(2)(a) was amended by paragraph 55 of Schedule 3 to the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/671)

f4

See Article 8(b) of and Part II of Schedule 6 to S.R. 1999 No. 481

f5

See section 171(6A) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 as inserted by Article 3(3) of the Social Security (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 (S.I. 1993/1579 (N.I. 8)); see also Article 6(b) of and Part II of Schedule 4 to S.R. 1999 No. 481

f6

See section 150(1)(b) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8)

Contents

  1. 1Citation, commencement and interpretation
  2. 2Amendments relating to the Skipton Fund
  3. 3Amendments relating to special guardianship allowances
  4. 4Further amendment of the Income Support Regulations
  5. Signature
  6. Explanatory note

1Citation, commencement and interpretationI1

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments No. 4) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 and shall come into operation on 4th October 2004.

(2)

In these Regulations –

  • F1...f1

  • “the Income Support Regulations” means the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987f2;

  • “the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations” means the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996f3.

(3)

The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954f4 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

2Amendments relating to the Skipton FundI1

(1)

In each of the provisions specified in paragraph (2) (notional capital) for “or the Independent Living Funds” there shall be substituted “, the Independent Living Funds or the Skipton Fund”.

(2)

The provisions specified for the purposes of paragraph (1) are –

F1(a)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b)

regulation 51(3A)(a) of the Income Support Regulationsf1;

(c)

regulation 113(3A)(a) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulationsf2.

(3)

In each of the provisions specified in paragraph (4) (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) for “and the Eileen Trust” there shall be substituted “, the Eileen Trust and the Skipton Fund”.

(4)

The provisions specified for the purpose of paragraph (3) are –

F2(a)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b)

paragraph 39(7) of Schedule 9 to the Income Support Regulationsf3.

(5)

After paragraph 41(6) of Schedule 6 to the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) there shall be added the following paragraph –

“(7)

For the purposes of sub-paragraphs (2) to (6), any reference to the Trusts shall be construed as including a reference to the Skipton Fund.”.

F3(6)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3Amendments relating to special guardianship allowancesI1

(1)

After sub-paragraph (e) in each of the provisions specified in paragraph (2) (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) there shall be added the following sub-paragraph –

“(f)

in accordance with regulations made pursuant to section 14F of the Children Act 1989 (special guardianship support services)f1,”.

(2)

The provisions specified for the purposes of paragraph (1) are –

F1(a)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b)

paragraph 25(1) of Schedule 9 to the Income Support Regulationsf2;

(c)

paragraph 26(1) of Schedule 6 to the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulationsf3.

(3)

After paragraph 64 of Schedule 10 to the Income Support Regulationsf4 (capital to be disregarded) there shall be inserted the following paragraph –

“64A

Any payment made to the claimant in accordance with regulations made pursuant to section 14F of the Children Act 1989 (special guardianship support services).”.

F2(4)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(5)

After paragraph 57 of Schedule 7 to the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulationsf5 (capital to be disregarded) there shall be inserted the following paragraph –

“57A

Any payment made to the claimant in accordance with regulations made pursuant to section 14F of the Children Act 1989 (special guardianship support services).”.

4Further amendment of the Income Support RegulationsI1

(1)

In regulation 12(2) of the Income Support Regulationsf1 (relevant education) –

(a)

in sub-paragraph (a) for “a higher national diploma or higher national certificate of either the Business & Technology Education Council or the Scottish Vocational Education Council” there shall be substituted “a higher national certificate”;

(b)

for sub-paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph –

“(b)

any other course which is a course of a standard above advanced GNVQ or equivalent, including a course which is of a standard above a general certificate of education (advanced level) or a Scottish national qualification (higher or advanced higher).”.

(2)

In regulation 42 of the Income Support Regulations (notional income) –

(a)

in paragraph (6A)(c)(ii)f2 from “, but this sub-paragraph” to the end of the sub-paragraph shall be omitted;

(b)

paragraphs (6B) and (6C) shall be omitted.

Signature

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 9th September 2004.

L.S.

John O'Neill

A Senior Officer of the

Department for Social Development

The Department of Finance and Personnel hereby consents to regulations 2(1), (2)(a), (3), (4)(a) and (6) and 3(1), (2)(a) and (4) of the foregoing Regulations.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel on 10th September 2004.

L.S.

Ciaran Doran

A Senior Officer of the

Department of Finance and Personnel

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations further amend the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987, the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 and the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.

Regulation 2 provides an income disregard for payments which derive from Skipton Fund payments and it also excludes Skipton Fund payments from the notional capital rules (regulations 2(1) to (5)).

In relation to housing benefit, regulation 2(6) provides that a person is not required to furnish any evidence and information about a Skipton Fund payment when making a claim or in connection with an award.

Regulation 3 introduces income and capital disregards for special guardianship payments.

Regulation 4 further amends the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 to –

  • remove references to specific awarding bodies from the definition of “receiving advanced education” in regulation 12(2) (regulation 4(1));

  • exclude lone parents, who participate in certain specified schemes, from the notional earnings rule (regulation 4(2)).

In so far as these Regulations are required, for the purposes of regulations 2(1), (2)(a), (3), (4)(a) and (6) and 3(1), (2)(a) and (4) to be referred to the Social Security Advisory Committee under section 149(2) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, (“the 1992 Act”), after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee, they have not been so referred by virtue of section 150(1)(b) of that Act. Otherwise they make, in relation to Northern Ireland only, provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the 1992 Act, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.

These Regulations do not impose any charge on business.