Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Income Support (General) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 and shall come into operation on 5th January 2000.

(2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(3) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Amendment of Schedule 1B to the Income Support (General) Regulations

2.  After paragraph 14 of Schedule 1B(4) to the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(5) (prescribed categories of person: pregnancy) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“Parental leave

14A.—(1) A person who is—

(a)entitled to, and taking, parental leave by virtue of Part III of the Maternity and Parental Leave, etc Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999(6) in respect of a child who is a member of his household;

(b)not entitled to any remuneration from his employer in respect of that leave for the period to which his claim for income support relates; and

(c)entitled to working families' tax credit, disabled person’s tax credit(7) or housing benefit on the day before that leave begins.

(2) In this paragraph “remuneration” means payment of any kind.”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations amend the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the Income Support Regulations”).

Regulation 2 inserts a new paragraph 14A into Schedule 1B of the Income Support Regulations. This provides that a person on unpaid statutory parental leave in respect of a child in his household, who was entitled to certain benefits on the day before the leave begins, is a prescribed person under section 123(1)(e) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 7) for the purposes of a claim for income support.

These Regulations make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Social Security 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 (c. 8), are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.