Explanatory note

These Regulations amend a number of different regulations relating to social security in consequence of certain provisions of Schedule 1 to the National Insurance Act 2015 (c. 5) (“the 2015 Act”) coming into operation. Paragraph 12 of Schedule 1 to the 2015 Act substitutes section 11 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c.7), which relates to liability for Class 2 National Insurance contributions. From 6^th April 2015 self-employed earners with profits in a tax year of £5,965 (the Small Profits Threshold) or over will pay Class 2 contributions via the Self-Assessment system.

Regulation 1 provides for citation, commencement and interpretation.

Regulations 2 to 8 amend the following regulations:

• the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987;

• the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992;

• the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996;

• the Child Support (Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001;

• 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,

in particular so as to align the language and legislative references with those contained in the 2015 Act.