Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
Regulation 2 substitutes a new version of regulation 2(1) of the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 (S.R. 2001 No. 216). The substituted regulation clarifies the structure of the previous regulation and specifies that all tenants, regardless of tenure type, may be eligible for a discretionary housing payment if the amount of housing benefit which they are entitled to is less than it would have been, due to the removal of the family premium from the Housing Benefit applicable amount, and they are deemed to require additional financial assistance in order to meet housing costs. As a result of these changes, the definition of “registered housing association” in regulation 1(2) is no longer required and is therefore omitted.
Regulation 3 makes changes to the definition of “attendance allowance” in regulation 2(1) of the Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (S.R. 2006 No. 405) to reflect repeals made by the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c.5) and the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/2006 (N.I. 1)).
Regulation 4 makes equivalent amendments to the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (S.R. 2006 No. 406).
Regulation 5 amends the Social Security (Lone Parents and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016 No. 2007) to ensure that lone parents with a child whose 5th birthday falls on 17th April 2017 are covered by the transitional provisions set out in the Schedule to those Regulations.
Regulation 6 amends the Personal Independence Payment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016 No. 217) to clarify the definition of “medical treatment” and remove superfluous wording.
Regulation 7 amends regulation 1(3) of the Housing Benefit (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016 No. 326) so as to adjust the commencement date for the remaining provisions of these regulations to 20th February 2017.
An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.