Regulation 1 Citation, commencement and interpretationI1

These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Work-focused Interviews) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 and shall come into operation on 14th May 2001.

In these Regulations—

• “the 1998 Order” means the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998^f1;

• “benefit week”—

  1. (a)

     in relation to housing benefit, means a period of 7 days beginning on a Monday;

  2. (b)

     in relation to any other specified benefit, means any period of 7 days corresponding to the week in respect of which the relevant social security benefit is due to be paid;

• “the Careers Service” means the Careers Service of the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment;

• “the Claims and Payments Regulations” means the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987^f2;

• “designated authority” means any of the following—

  1. (a)

     the Department, the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment or the Department of Finance and Personnel;

  2. (b)

     a person providing services to any of those Departments;

  3. (c)

     the Housing Executive;

  4. (d)

     a person providing services to, or authorised to exercise any functions of, the Housing Executive;

• “the Housing Benefit Regulations” means the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987^f3;

• “interview” means a work-focused interview;

• “personal adviser” means an officer of the Department or of the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment;

• “specified benefit” means income support, housing benefit or incapacity benefit;

• “work-focused interview” has the meaning given in regulation 2.

In these Regulations, a “relevant person” is a person who resides in a postcode district specified in Schedule 1.

For the purposes of these Regulations—

Where a claim for benefit is made by a person (“the appointee”) on behalf of another, references in these Regulations to a person claiming benefit shall be treated as a reference to the person on whose behalf the claim is made and not to the appointee.

These Regulations apply in respect of a specified benefit claimed on or after 14th May 2001.

The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954^f5 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.