Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Transitional Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 and shall come into operation on 6th April 2009.

(2) In these Regulations the “Claims and Payments Regulations” means the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(3).

Transitional payment

2.—(1) This regulation applies where, in accordance with regulation 22A(4) of, and paragraph 2ZA of Schedule 7 to, the Claims and Payments Regulations(4) (bereavement benefits and time of payment), the Department changes the manner in which a benefit mentioned in paragraph (2) is paid from weekly payments in advance to weekly payments in arrears.

(2) The benefits are income support, widowed mother’s allowance, widowed parent’s allowance and widow’s pension.

(3) Where this regulation applies, a person shall be entitled to a transitional payment determined in accordance with paragraph (4).

(4) The amount of the transitional payment shall be equivalent to the gross amount of benefit payable in respect of the last period of 7 days for which benefit was payable in advance.

(5) In paragraph (4) “the gross amount” means the amount of weekly benefit payable to a person before any deductions have been made—

(a)under regulation 34ZA, 34ZB or 34A of the Claims and Payments Regulations(5) (deductions from benefit and payment to third parties); or

(b)in respect of overpayment recovery or recovery of social fund loans under section 69, 72 or 74 of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(6) (overpayments, income support and other payments and recovery of social fund awards).

Adjusting payment of benefit

3.—(1) This regulation applies where, in accordance with regulations 22A(1) and 24(1) of, and paragraphs 1 and 3 of Schedule 7 to, the Claims and Payments Regulations(7) (bereavement benefits, incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance and maternity allowance and time of payment), the Department changes the manner in which a benefit mentioned in paragraph (2) is paid from weekly payments in arrears to fortnightly payments in arrears.

(2) The benefits are incapacity benefit, income support, severe disablement allowance, widowed mother’s allowance, widowed parent’s allowance and widow’s pension.

(3) Subject to paragraph (6), where this regulation applies, a person shall be entitled, on making a request to the Department, to an adjusting payment of benefit determined in accordance with paragraph (5).

(4) A request under paragraph (3) may only be made on a day before the day on which the first fortnightly payment is due.

(5) The amount of the adjusting payment of benefit shall be the person’s net weekly benefit payable in respect of the last period of 7 days for which benefit was payable weekly in arrears, rounded up so as to be divisible by 12.

(6) The Department shall not pay an adjusting payment of benefit where a person’s net weekly benefit is less than £4∙00 in respect of the period of 7 days ending on the payday which the Department has indicated will be the final payday for the purposes of paying the person at weekly intervals.

(7) In paragraphs (5) and (6), “net weekly benefit” means the amount of weekly benefit payable to a person after any deductions have been made—

(a)under regulation 34ZA, 34ZB or 34A of the Claims and Payments Regulations; or

(b)in respect of overpayment recovery or recovery of social fund loans under section 69, 72 or 74 of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992.

Adjustment of subsequent payments following an adjusting payment of benefit

4.—(1) Subject to paragraph (5), where an adjusting payment of benefit is made under regulation 3, the amount of that payment shall be recovered by means of an adjustment in subsequent payments of benefit in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).

(2) A person’s benefit payments shall be adjusted over a period of 12 consecutive weeks (“the adjustment period”).

(3) The first payment from which an adjusting payment of benefit shall be recovered is the payment that is due on the second occasion on which the person is due to receive payment of benefit at fortnightly intervals.

(4) The amount by which the person’s weekly benefit is to be reduced on each occasion during the adjustment period shall be 1/12th of the adjusting payment of benefit.

(5) The Department may, in any particular case or class of case, recover the whole of an adjusting payment of benefit, or the residue of it if partly recovered, by adjusting subsequent payments of the same benefit over any period of time.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make provision for the payment of a one-off transitional payment and an adjusting payment of benefit.

Regulation 2 provides for a one-off transitional payment to be made where payments to persons in receipt of income support, widowed mother’s allowance, widowed parent’s allowance and widow’s pension are changed from weekly in advance to weekly in arrears.

Regulation 3 makes provision for an adjusting payment of benefit to be made where payments to persons in receipt of incapacity benefit, income support, severe disablement allowance, widowed mother’s allowance, widowed parent’s allowance and widow’s pension are changed from weekly in arrears to fortnightly in arrears.

Regulation 4 makes provision for the recovery of an adjusting payment of benefit.

These Regulations 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 Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.