Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges (Amendment No.3) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 and shall come into operation on 1st November 2009.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the principal Regulations” means the Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004(3); and

“the Income Support Regulations” means the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(4).

Modification of the Income Support Regulations in Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations

2.—(1) Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (Modifications of the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987) is amended as provided by paragraph (2).

(2) In Table A, in the modifications of regulation 66A of the Income Support Regulations (treatment of student loans), in the first entry, for “Guide to Student Support issued by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland 2008-2009” substitute “Student Support Information Guide 2009-2010 issued by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland(5)”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety on 29th September 2009

Christine Jendoubi

A senior officer of the

Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel insofar as the foregoing Regulations relate to travelling expenses on 29th September 2009

Adrian Arbuthnot

A senior officer of the

Department of Finance and Personnel

The Department of Finance and Personnel hereby approves the foregoing Regulations insofar as they relate to the remission of charges.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel on 29th September 2009

Adrian Arbuthnot

A senior officer of the

Department of Finance and Personnel

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 (“the principal Regulations”), which provide for remission and payment of certain charges which would otherwise be payable under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 and for payment by the Department of Health, Social Service and Public Safety of travelling expenses incurred in attending a hospital.

In calculating a person’s resources and requirements under the principal Regulations in order to establish whether a person can claim entitlement to remission of Health Service charges and the payment of Health Services travelling expenses, a modified version of the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 is used, as set out in Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations.

These regulations update the reference to the publication which describes additional loans paid under the Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2007. These loans are disregarded in the calculation of a student’s loan income when a person’s entitlement to remission of Health Service charges and the payment of Health Services travelling expenses is being established under the principal Regulations.