Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Student Loans) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation on 1st August 2000.

Amendment of the Education (Student Loans) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998

2.—(1) The Education (Student Loans) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998(3) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (5).

(2) In regulation 3(1) there shall be inserted in the appropriate place the following definition—

““metropolitan police district” means the areas referred to in section 76(1) of the London Government Act 1963((4) as it had effect prior to its amendment by section 323 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999((5)”.

(3) At the end of regulation 3(4) there shall be added the following sentence—

• “Without prejudice to the foregoing, members of the regular naval, military or air forces of the Crown shall be treated as being temporarily employed within the meaning of this paragraph for any period during which they serve outside the United Kingdom and Islands as members of such forces.”.

(4) For each figure in column (1) in the following table wherever it appears in regulation 6(1) to (4)((6) there shall be substituted the figure specified opposite thereto in column (2)—

(5) In Schedule 1 for paragraph 3(a) there shall be substituted—

“(a)(i)has been informed by a person acting under the authority of the Secretary of State for the Home Department that, although he is considered not to qualify for recognition as a refugee, it is thought right to allow him to enter or remain in the United Kingdom, or

(ii)before 1st July 1993 applied to the Secretary of State for the Home Department for recognition as a refugee and who has been informed by a person acting under the authority of the Secretary of State for the Home Department that it is thought right to allow him to enter or remain in the United Kingdom,”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations, which come into operation on 1st August 2000, amend the Education (Student Loans) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 (“the principal Regulations”). The principal Regulations govern loans made under the Education (Student Loans) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990, which are mortgage style repayment loans. Such loans are for the most part made to students who began their courses before 1st August 1998. Loans under the Student Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, repayable through the tax system, are made to students beginning their courses on or after 1st August 1998.

The definition of “metropolitan police district” is amended so as to refer to the boundaries as they were prior to their amendment by the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (regulation 2(2)).

Regulation 3(4) is amended so as to provide expressly that members of the regular armed forces are treated as falling within the temporary employment abroad exemption from the residence conditions in paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (regulation 2(3)).

These amending Regulations also increase the maximum amounts which may be lent in relation to an academic year in line with inflation (regulation 2(4)).

Paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 has been amended to reflect new Home Office procedures in relation to refugees (regulation 2(5)).