Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

Grants for dependants

16.—(1) Subject to the following paragraphs an eligible student shall in respect of each academic year be eligible for a £2,280 grant for living costs for only one of the following –

(a)a spouse, or

(b)an adult dependant whose net income does not exceed £3,280.

(2) The amount of grant under paragraph (1) shall be reduced or extinguished by the difference between –

(a)the aggregate of the net income of each of the eligible student’s dependants; and

(b)where the eligible student –

(i)has no dependent child, £1,000;

(ii)is not a lone parent and has one dependent child, £3,000;

(iii)is not a lone parent and has more than one dependent child, £4,000;

(iv)is a lone parent and has one dependent child, £4,000; or

(v)is a lone parent and has more than one dependent child, £5,000

provided the aggregate amount calculated under sub-paragraph (a) is greater than the amount applicable under sub-paragraph (b).

(3) If an eligible student’s spouse is also an eligible student or holds a statutory award and if in calculating the amount of support for which the spouse is eligible or payment to which he is entitled under the award, account is taken of his dependants, the aggregate amount of grant calculated under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be reduced by one half.

(4) Where an eligible student maintains a dependant who is ordinarily resident outside the United Kingdom the grant under this regulation shall be such amount, if any, not exceeding the aggregate amount of grant calculated under paragraphs (1) to (3) as the Department considers reasonable in all the circumstances.

(5) Where an eligible student is a lone parent and he has elected to be ineligible for grant under regulation 17, he shall in addition to any grant referred to in the preceding paragraphs be eligible for a grant of £1,125, if –

(a)his course began before 1st September 2001;

(b)his course is an end-on course in relation to a course which began before 1st September 2001; or

(c)his course is an end-on course in relation to such an end-on course as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (b).

(6) For the purposes of paragraph (5) an eligible student may make one election to be ineligible for grant under regulation 17 at any time before or during the academic year and he may revoke such election at any time during the academic year and for the purposes of this regulation and regulation 17, where an eligible student has revoked such election, he shall be treated as a person who has not elected to be ineligible for grant under regulation 17.

(7) Subject to regulation 17(3), (4), (5), (6) and (7), where the eligible student –

(a)is eligible for a grant under paragraph (1), has not elected to be ineligible for grant under regulation 17 in accordance with paragraph (6) and has one or more dependent children, he shall in addition to any grant referred to in the preceding paragraphs be eligible for a grant of £1,300;

(b)is not eligible for a grant under paragraph (1) or under regulation 17, has not elected to be ineligible for grant under regulation 17 in accordance with paragraph (6) and has one or more dependent children, he shall be eligible for a grant of £1,300 less the amount up to a maximum of £1,250 by which the aggregate of the net income of each of the eligible student’s dependants exceeds the amount applicable in regulation 16(2)(b) provided such excess amount is less than £1,300.

(8) Where the number of an eligible student’s dependants changes or the eligible student becomes or ceases to be a lone parent during an academic year the Department shall determine who the student’s dependants are and whether or not the student is a lone parent for each of the three quarters of the academic year in respect of which support is payable under regulation 26(2) by reference to the student’s circumstances during the relevant quarter.

(9) Where the Department has determined who the student’s dependants are and whether or not the student is a lone parent for a quarter under paragraph (8) the grant for dependants for the quarter shall be one third of the amount of grant for those dependants for an academic year and the amount of grant for the academic year shall be the aggregate of the three amounts so determined.

(10) Where an eligible student is eligible for a grant for living costs in respect of an academic year under regulation 12(4)(a) he shall only be eligible for a grant under this regulation in respect of such of the three quarters of the year in respect of which support is payable under regulation 26(2) as begin after the events referred to in regulation 12(4)(a), and, subject to paragraphs (8) and (9), the grant for each such quarter shall be one third of the amount for an academic year and the amount for the academic year shall be the aggregate of the amounts payable in respect of each such quarter.

(11) In this regulation and in regulation 17 –

“adult dependant” means, in relation to an eligible student, an adult person dependent on the student not being his child, his spouse (whether ordinarily living with him or not) or a person living with him as his spouse or his former spouse;

“child” in relation to an eligible student includes –

“dependant” means, in relation to an eligible student, his spouse, his dependent child or an adult dependant, who in each case is not an eligible student and does not hold a statutory award;

“dependent” means wholly or mainly financially dependent;

“partner” means a woman ordinarily living with a male student as his wife or a man ordinarily living with a female student as her husband;

“spouse” in relation to an eligible student to whom paragraph 3(1)(a) of Part II of Schedule 3 applies –

(12) For the purposes of this regulation a dependant’s net income shall be his income from all sources for the academic year in question reduced by the amount of income tax and social security contributions payable in respect of it, but disregarding:

(a)any pension, allowance or other benefit paid by reason of a disability or incapacity to which the dependant is subject;

(b)child benefit;

(c)any allowance payable to his spouse by an adoption agency in accordance with regulations made under Article 59A of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987(1);

(d)any guardian’s allowance to which his spouse is entitled under section 77 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992;

(e)in the case of a spouse with whom a child in the care of a Health and Social Services Board or a Health and Social Services Trust is boarded out, any payment made to him in pursuance of Article 27(2)(a) of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(2);

(f)any payments made to his spouse in pursuance of an order made under Article 15 of and Schedule 1 to the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 in respect of a person who is not his child or any assistance given by a Health and Social Services Board or Health and Social Services Trust pursuant to Articles 35 and 36 of that Order.

(g)any child tax credit to which he is entitled under Part I of the Tax Credits Act 2002(3).

(13) Where an eligible student, or his spouse, make any recurrent payments which were previously made by the student in pursuance of an obligation incurred before the first academic year of the student’s course the spouse’s net income shall be reduced by –

(a)an amount equal to the payments in question for the academic year, if in the opinion of the Department the obligation had been reasonably incurred; or

(b)such lesser amount if any as the Department considers appropriate, if in its opinion a lesser obligation could reasonably have been incurred.