The Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Employment and Support Allowance and State Pension Credit (Carer’s Allowance Reassessment Capital Disregard) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
S.R. 2026/146 · Made 9 July 2026 · Extends to Northern Ireland
Social Security
Made 9th July 2026
Coming into operation 16th July 2026
The Department for Communitiesf1 makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 132(3) and (4) and 171(1), (3) and (4) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992f2, and now vested in itf3, sections 15(3) and (6) and 19(1) to (3) of the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002f4, sections 17(1) and (3) and 25(2) of the Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2007f5 and Article 48 of, and paragraph 4(1) and (3) of Schedule 1 to, the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015f6.
Regulations 3 and 4 are made with the consent of the Department of Financef7.
Annotations to the whole text
Footnotes
- f1
-
See section 1(7) of the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 5 (N.I.))
- f2
-
1992 c. 7; section 171(1) was amended by paragraph 36 of Schedule 1, and Schedule 2 to, the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/1898 (N.I. 12)) and paragraph 5 of Schedule 4 to, the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c. 21)
- f3
-
See Article 8(b) of S.R. 1999 No. 481
- f4
- f5
-
2007 c. 2 (N.I.); section 25(2) was amended by Article 57(2)(b) of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/2006 (N.I. 1))
- f6
-
S.I. 2015/2006 (N.I. 1); see Article 2 of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (Cessation of Transitory Provision) Order 2020 (S.I. 2020/927)
- f7
-
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 S.R. 1999 No. 481 and section 1(4) of the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 5 (N.I.))
Contents
- 1Citation, commencement and interpretation
- 2Amendment of the State Pension Credit Regulations
- 3Amendment of the Housing Benefit Regulations
- 4Amendment of the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations
- 5Amendment of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations
- 6Amendment of the Universal Credit Regulations
- Signature
- Explanatory note
1Citation, commencement and interpretationI1
These Regulations may be cited as the Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Employment and Support Allowance and State Pension Credit (Carer’s Allowance Reassessment Capital Disregard) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026 and come into operation on 16th July 2026.
The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954f1 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
2Amendment of the State Pension Credit RegulationsI1
After paragraph 20AA of Schedule 5 to the State Pension Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003f1 (income from capital), insert—
“20AB.A payment to the person made by the Department as a result of a recalculation of carer’s allowance, carried out in consequence of the report of the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments dated 21st July 2025f2.”.
3Amendment of the Housing Benefit RegulationsI1
After paragraph 9A of Schedule 7 to the Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006f1 (capital to be disregarded), insert—
“9AA.A payment to the person made by the Department as a result of a recalculation of carer’s allowance, carried out in consequence of the report of the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments dated 21st July 2025.”.
4Amendment of the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) RegulationsI1
After paragraph 22A of Schedule 7 to the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006f1 (capital to be disregarded), insert—
“22B.A payment to the person made by the Department as a result of a recalculation of carer’s allowance, carried out in consequence of the report of the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments dated 21st July 2025.”.
5Amendment of the Employment and Support Allowance RegulationsI1
After paragraph 11A of Schedule 9 to the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008f1 (capital to be disregarded), insert—
“11B.A payment to the person made by the Department as a result of a recalculation of carer’s allowance, carried out in consequence of the report of the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments dated 21st July 2025.”.
6Amendment of the Universal Credit RegulationsI1
After paragraph 18ZA of Schedule 10 to the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016f1 (capital to be disregarded), insert—
“18ZB.A payment to the person made by the Department as a result of a recalculation of carer’s allowance, carried out in consequence of the report of the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments dated 21st July 2025.”.
Signature
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Communities on 9th July 2026
(L.S.)
David Tarr
A senior officer of the Department for Communities
The Department of Finance hereby consents to regulations 3 and 4 of the foregoing regulations.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance on 9thJuly 2026
(L.S.)
Paul Duffy
A senior officer of the Department of Finance
Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend various social security Regulations to make provision for the treatment, within the relevant benefits, of lump-sum payments of carer’s allowance made by the Department as a result of the reassessment exercise conducted in response to the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments, published on 21st July 2025.
Regulations 2 to 6 amend the State Pension Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003, the Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006, the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006, the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 and the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 respectively. Each amendment inserts a provision to ensure that lump-sum payments made as part of the carer’s allowance reassessment exercise are disregarded as capital when determining entitlement to the relevant benefit.
These Regulations make provision for Northern Ireland only corresponding to provision made by regulations of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain. Accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8), they are not subject to the requirement in section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.