{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-students-responsible-for-children-or-young-persons-amendment-regulations-northern-ireland-2008/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-students-responsible-for-children-or-young-persons-amendment-regulations-northern-ireland-2008/note.json",
  "legislation": "nisr/2008/290",
  "legislation_title": "The Social Security (Students Responsible for Children or Young Persons) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-students-responsible-for-children-or-young-persons-amendment-regulations-northern-ireland-2008",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Regulations)\nThese Regulations amend the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the Income Support Regulations”) and the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (“the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations”).\nA person may claim income support only if he or she is within a category of persons prescribed in Schedule 1B to the Income Support Regulations. Regulation 4ZA(3)(c) provides that a full-time student can fall within certain prescribed categories (for example carers or those who are incapable of work) only during the summer vacation and only then if he or she: (a) has a partner who is also a full-time student, and (b) is a person (or whose partner is a person) with responsibility for a child or young person. While retaining the requirement that, if a person has a partner, that partner must also be a full-time student so as to fall within those prescribed categories during the summer vacation, these Regulations extend the provision so that a full-time student who does not have a partner can also fall within the prescribed categories.\nA person claiming a jobseeker’s allowance has to be available for employment (see Article 3(2)(a) of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995). Regulation 15 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations specifies that a full-time student is not to be regarded as available for employment except – for the period only of the summer vacation – where the claimant: (a) has a partner who is also a full-time student, and (b) is a person (or whose partner is a person) with responsibility for a child or young person. While retaining the requirement that, if a person has a partner, that partner must also be a full-time student for the exception to apply, these Regulations extend the provision so that a full-time student who does not have a partner can also fall within the exception – and recast regulation 15 so as to incorporate that extension.\nThese Regulations make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 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, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2008/290/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T01:35:37.284679+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}