The Pensions (2015 Act) (Consequential Amendments) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016
S.R. 2016/353 · Made 27 September 2016
Social Security
Approved by resolution of the Assembly on 5th December 2016Made 27th September 2016
Coming into operation in accordance with Article 1
The Department for Communitiesf1 makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 50 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015f2.
Annotations to the whole text
Footnotes
- f1
-
See section 1(7) of the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 5 (N.I.))
- f2
Contents
- 1Citation and commencement
- 2Amendment of the Administration Act
- 3Amendment of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order
- 4Amendment of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order
- Signature
- Explanatory note
1Citation and commencement
This Order may be cited as the Pensions (2015 Act) (Consequential Amendments) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016 and shall come into operation—
for the purposes of this Article and Articles 2 and 3, on 28th September 2016; and
for the purposes of Article 4, immediately after paragraph 6 of Schedule 3 to the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015f1 comes into operation.
2Amendment of the Administration Act
The Administration Act is amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (6).
In section 139(5) (effect of alteration in the component rates of income support)—
in the definition of “alteration”, in paragraph (b)(ii) after “132A”f1 insert “, 132B”;
in the definition of “applicable sums”f2—
for “section 132 or 132A” substitute “section 132, 132A or 132B”; and
for “section 150 or 150A” substitute “section 150, 150A or 151A”; and
in the definition of “benefit income”f3, after paragraph (a) insert—
“(zaa)state pension under Part 1 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;”.
In section 139A(5)f4 (effect of alteration of rates of a jobseeker’s allowance)—
in the definition of “alteration”, in paragraph (b)f5 for “section 132 or 132A” substitute “section 132, 132A or 132B”; and
in the definition of “benefit income”f6, after paragraph (a) insert—
“(zaa)state pension under Part 1 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;”.
In section 139Bf7 (effect of alterations affecting state pension credit)—
in subsection (4)(a)f8 after “section 150, 150A” insert “, 151A”; and
in subsection (6)—
in the definition of “alteration”, in paragraph (b)f9 for “section 132, 132A” substitute “section 132, 132A, 132B”;
after the definition of “alteration” insert—
““applicable sums” has the same meaning as in section 139 above;” and
in the definition of “benefit income”f10, after “Contributions and Benefits Act” insert “, state pension under Part 1 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015”.
In section 139C(6)f11 (effect of alteration of rates of an employment and support allowance)—
in the definition of “alteration”, in paragraph (b)f12 for “section 132, 132A” substitute “section 132, 132A, 132B”; and
in the definition of “benefit income”f13, after “Contributions and Benefits Act” insert “, state pension under Part 1 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015”.
In section 139Df14 (effect of alterations affecting universal credit)—
in subsection (4)(a) after “section 150, 150A” insert “, 151A”; and
in subsection (6)—
in the definition of “alteration”, in paragraph (b) for “section 132, 132A” substitute “section 132, 132A, 132B”;
in the definition of “applicable sums”—
for “section 132, 132A” substitute “section 132, 132A, 132B”; and
for “section 150, 150A” substitute “section 150, 150A, 151A”, and
in the definition of “benefit income” after “Contributions and Benefits Act” insert “, state pension under Part 1 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015”.
3Amendment of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order
In paragraph 17 of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998f1 (decisions against which an appeal lies) after “section 22(5)” insert “or 5ZA”.
4Amendment of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order
In paragraph 6 of Schedule 3 to the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (abolition of benefits; consequential amendments)—
for “section 132, 132A” substitute “section 132, 132A, 132B”; and
for “section 150, 150A” substitute “section 150, 150A, 151A”.
Signature
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Communities on 27th September 2016
(L.S.)
Anne McCleary
A senior officer of the Department for Communities
Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order makes amendments to the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (“the Administration Act”) and the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (“the 1998 Order”) which are consequential on the introduction of State Pension for persons reaching pensionable age on or after 6 April 2016 by the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015.
Article 2 amends sections 139 to 139D of the Administration Act. These provisions provide for an up-rated amount of certain payments to be taken into account in the calculation of income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, state pension credit and universal credit. The amendments provide that where the rate of the relevant income-related benefit is to be altered because the rate of State Pension in payment to the recipient or their partner is to be up-rated, this alteration will be made automatically without the need for a further decision by the Department.
Article 3 amends paragraph 17 of Schedule 3 to the 1998 Order to provide for a right of appeal against a decision as to whether a person is to be credited with earnings or contributions for the purposes of entitlement to the State Pension under regulations made under section 22(5ZA) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992.
Article 4 makes a consequential amendment to a provision in the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015.