The Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

Child support decisions involving issues that arise on appeal in other cases

23.—(1) For the purposes of Article 28ZA(2)(b) of the Child Support Order(1), a case which satisfies either of the conditions in paragraph (2) is a prescribed case.

(2) The conditions are that—

(a)if a decision were not made on the basis prescribed in paragraph (3), the parent with care would become entitled to income support if a claim were made, or to an increased amount of that benefit; or

(b)the absent parent is an employed earner or a self-employed earner.

(3) For the purposes of Article 28ZA(2)(b) of the Child Support Order, the prescribed basis on which the Department may make the decision is as if—

(a)the appeal in relation to the different maintenance assessment, which is referred to in Article 28ZA(1)(b) of that Order had already been determined; and

(b)that appeal had been decided in a way that was the most unfavourable to the applicant for the decision mentioned in Article 28ZA(1)(a) of that Order.

(4) The circumstances prescribed under Article 28ZA(4)(c) of the Child Support Order(2), where an appeal is pending against a decision for the purposes of that Article, even though an appeal against the decision has not been brought (or, as the case may be, an application for leave to appeal against the decision has not been made) but the time for doing so has not yet expired, are where the Department—

(a)certifies in writing that it is considering appealing against that decision; and

(b)considers that, if such an appeal were to be determined in a particular way—

(i)there would be no liability for child support maintenance, or

(ii)such liability would be less than would be the case were an appeal not made.

(5) In this regulation—

• “absent parent” and “parent with care” have the same meanings as in Article 2(2) of the Child Support Order(3);

• “employed earner” and “self-employed earner” have the same meanings as in section 2(1) of the Contributions and Benefits Act.