Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 and shall come into operation on 8th April 2002.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the Income Support Regulations” means the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(6);

“the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations” means the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(7).

(3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(8) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

Income Support: income disregard

2.—(1) The Income Support Regulations shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (5).

(2) In regulation 2(1) (interpretation) after the definition of “voluntary organisation”(9) there shall be inserted the following definition—

““war widower’s pension” means any widower’s pension or allowance granted in respect of a death due to service or war injury and payable by virtue of the Air Force (Constitution) Act 1917(10), the Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act 1939(11), the Pensions (Navy, Army, Air Force and Mercantile Marine) Act 1939(12), the Polish Resettlement Act 1947(13) or Part VII or section 151 of the Reserve Forces Act 1980(14) or a pension or allowance for a widower granted under any scheme mentioned in section 315(2)(e) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988(15);”.

(3) In regulation 42(4)(a)(i)(16) (notional income) after “war widow’s pension” there shall be inserted “or war widower’s pension” and after “widow” there shall be inserted “or widower”.

(4) In regulation 51(3)(a)(i)(17) (notional capital) after “war widow’s pension” there shall be inserted “or war widower’s pension” and after “widow” there shall be inserted “or widower”.

(5) In Schedule 9 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings)—

(a)in paragraph 16(b)(18) after “pension” there shall be inserted “or war widower’s pension”;

(b)in paragraph 16(c) after “widow” there shall be inserted “or widower”;

(c)in paragraphs 54 and 55(19) after “widows” there shall be inserted “or widowers”;

(d)in paragraph 56(1)(a)(20) after “widow” there shall be inserted “or widower”, and

(e)in paragraph 56(1)(b) after “widows” there shall be inserted “or widowers”.

Housing Benefit: income disregard

3.—(1) The Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(21) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) In regulation 2(1) (interpretation) after the definition of “voluntary organisation”(22) there shall be inserted the following definition—

““war widower’s pension” means any widower’s pension or allowance granted in respect of a death due to service or war injury and payable by virtue of the Air Force (Constitution) Act 1917, the Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act 1939, the Pensions (Navy, Army, Air Force and Mercantile Marine) Act 1939, the Polish Resettlement Act 1947 or Part VII or section 151 of the Reserve Forces Act 1980 or a pension or allowance for a widower granted under any scheme mentioned in section 315(2)(e) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988;”.

(3) In Schedule 4 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings)—

(a)in paragraph 13(b)(23) after “pension” there shall be inserted “or war widower’s pension”;

(b)in paragraph 13(c) after “widow” there shall be inserted “or widower”;

(c)in paragraphs 56 and 57(24) after “widows” there shall be inserted “or widowers”;

(d)in paragraph 58(1)(a)(25) after “widow” there shall be inserted “or widower”, and

(e)in paragraph 58(1)(b) after “widows” there shall be inserted “or widowers”.

Jobseeker’s Allowance: income disregard

4.—(1) The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (5).

(2) In regulation 1(2) (interpretation) after the definition of “war widow’s pension” there shall be inserted the following definition—

““war widower’s pension” means a pension payable to a man as a widower under any of the enactments mentioned in the definition of “war disablement pension” in respect of death or disablement of any person;”.

(3) In regulation 105(10)(a)(i)(26) (notional income) after “war widows pension” there shall be inserted “or war widower’s pension”.

(4) In regulation 113(3)(a)(i)(27) (notional capital) after “war widow’s pension” there shall be inserted “or war widower’s pension”.

(5) In Schedule 6 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings)—

(a)in paragraph 17(b) after “pension” there shall be inserted “or war widower’s pension”;

(b)in paragraph 17(c) after “widow” there shall be inserted “or widower”;

(c)in paragraphs 53 and 54 after “widows” there shall be inserted “or widowers”;

(d)in paragraph 55(1)(a) after “widow” there shall be inserted “or widower”, and

(e)in paragraph 55(1)(b) after “widows” there shall be inserted “or widowers”.

Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance: housing costs linking rules

5.  In paragraph 14(13) of Schedule 3 to the Income Support Regulations(28) (housing costs: linking rule) and paragraph 13(15) of Schedule 2 to the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations(29) (housing costs: linking rule) after “paragraph 6(1)(a)” there shall be inserted “, 6(1)(b)”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations further amend the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987, the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 and the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.

In particular, regulations 2 and 4 provide for income disregards in respect of war widowers' pensions in the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 and to the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.

Regulation 3 provides for a full disregard in respect of a war widower’s pension in the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987.

Regulation 5 also amends Schedule 3 to the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 and Schedule 2 to the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 to extend the 52 week linking provisions to claimants whose housing costs are met in part.

In so far as these Regulations are required, for the purposes of regulation 3, to be referred to the Social Security Advisory Committee under section 149(2) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, (“the 1992 Act”), after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee, they have not been so referred by virtue of section 150(1)(b) of that Act. Otherwise they make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the 1992 Act, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.

These Regulations do not impose any charge on business.