Paragraph 4 Legacy employment and support allowanceI1

United Kingdom

(1)

Paragraph 1 applies in relation to the amounts of the ESA IR personal allowance for tax years 2026-27 to 2029-30 as it applies in relation to the amounts of the standard allowance for those tax years, but as if the reference to the power in Article 14 (2) of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 were to the power in section 4 (2)(a) of the Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2007 (c. 2 (N.I.)).

(2)

Where it is necessary in order to achieve the result in sub-paragraph (3) for any of the tax years 2026-27 to 2029-30, the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland must exercise the power in section 4(2)(a) or (6)(c) of the Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2007 to increase—

(a)

any amount of the severe disability premium or enhanced disability premium specified in Part 3 of Schedule 4 to the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (S.R. (N.I.) 2008 No. 280) for that tax year (so far as prescribed under section 4(2)(a) of that Act),

(b)

the amount specified in paragraph 13 of Part 4 of that Schedule for that tax year (so far as specified under section 4(6)(c) of that Act), or

(c)

any amount of the ESA IR personal allowance for that tax year.

(3)

The result to be achieved for a tax year (“the current tax year”) is that for each combination of amounts referred to in sub-paragraph (2)(a) to (c) to which a person could be entitled, the sum of those amounts for the current tax year is at least (in each case) the amount given by increasing—

(a)

the sum of those amounts for the previous tax year, by

(b)

the relevant CPI percentage for the current tax year.

(4)

In this paragraph—

(a)

an “amount of the ESA IR personal allowance” means an amount—

(i)

that is prescribed under section 4 (2)(a) of the Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2007 (amount of income-related allowance), and

(ii)

that is not an amount of a premium specified in Part 3 of Schedule 4 to the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (S.R. (N.I.) 2008 No. 280) or an amount in respect of housing costs;

(b)

a reference to an amount “for” a tax year means the amount applicable for any benefit week commencing on or after the first Monday of that tax year and before the first Monday of the following tax year, and for this purpose “benefit week” has the same meaning as in the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008.

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Sch. 2 para. 4 in force at Royal Assent