Explanatory note

These Regulations further amend the Social Security (Severe Disablement Allowance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1984 (“the Severe Disablement Allowance Regulations”) and the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 (“the General Regulations”).

The Severe Disablement Allowance Regulations are amended so that the partially sighted and those entitled to attendance allowance, the mobility component or the middle rate of the care component of disability living allowance and war pensions mobility supplement are not automatically treated as meeting the 80 per cent. disablement test (regulation 2).

The General Regulations are amended to make provision so that certain persons who are entitled to disablement pension, or assessed for the purpose of severe disablement allowance as 80 per cent. disabled, are treated as incapable of work (regulation 3).

The Regulations also make a saving provision for the protection of those in receipt of severe disablement allowance before the coming into operation of these Regulations (regulation 4) and a consequential revocation (regulation 5).

These Regulations correspond to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Social Security in relation to Great Britain and 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), are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.