The Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987

Made: 21st December 1987

Coming into operation: 11th April 1988

The Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Articles 21(1), (3)(d), (4), (9), (11) and (12), 23(1), (4) and (5) to (9), 24(1), (3) and (5) and 52(1)(m) of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1986[^f00001] and section 114 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Act 1975[^f00002] and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following regulations:

Citation and commencement

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These regulations may be cited as the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 and shall come into operation on 11th April 1988.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these regulations—

• “the Order” means the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1986;

• “the 1971 Act” means the Immigration Act 1971[^f00003];

• “the 1972 Order” means the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972[^f00004];

• “attendance allowance” means— an attendance allowance under section 35 of the principal Act[^f00005]; an increase of disablement pension under section 61 or 63 of that Act[^f00006]; a payment under regulations made in exercise of the power conferred by section 150(3)(b) of that Act; a payment analogous to a payment by way of an increase of an allowance in respect of constant attendance under section 5 -of the Industrial Injuries and Diseases (Old Cases) Act 1975[^f00007]; a payment by virtue of Article 14, 15, 16, 43 or 44 of the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983[^f00008] or any analogous payment; or any payment based on need for attendance which is paid as part of a war disablement pension;

• ''benefit week'' has the meaning prescribed in paragraph 4 of Schedule 7 to the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987[^f00009];

• “child” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 21(11) of the Order;

• “child benefit” means child benefit under Part II of the Child Benefit (Northern Ireland) Order 1975[^f00010];

• “claimant” means a person claiming income support;

• “close relative” means a parent, parent-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-parent, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister, or the spouse of any of the preceding persons or, if that person is one of an unmarried couple, the other member of that couple;

• “concessionary payment” means a payment made under arrangements made by the Department with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel which is charged either to the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund or to a Departmental Expenditure Vote to which payments of benefit under the Order, the principal Act or the Child Benefit (Northern Ireland) Order 1975 are charged;

• “couple” means a married or an unmarried couple;

• “course of study” means any full-time course of study or sandwich course whether or not a grant is made for attending it;

• “dwelling occupied as the home” means the dwelling together with any garage, garden, small agricultural holding and outbuildings, normally occupied by the claimant as his home including any premises not so occupied which it is impracticable or unreasonable to sell separately;

• “earnings” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 35 or, as the case may be, 37;

• ''education and library board'' means a board established under Article 3 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986[^f00011];

• “employed earner” means a person who is gainfully employed in Northern Ireland, or the Republic of Ireland either under a contract of service, or in an office (including elective office) with emoluments chargeable to income tax under Schedule E or, as the case may be, chargeable under the legislation of the Republic of Ireland which is analogous to income tax under Schedule E;

• “Health and Social Services Board” means a Board established under Article 16 of the 1972 Order;

• ''home for persons in need'' has the meaning prescribed in regulation 19(2);

• ''housing association'' has the meaning assigned to it by Article 114 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1981[^f00012];

• “housing benefit expenditure” means expenditure of a kind for which housing benefit may be granted;

• “invalid carriage or other vehicle” means a vehicle propelled by petrol engine or by electric power supplied for use on the road and to be controlled by the occupant;

• “liable relative” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 54;

• ''lone patent'' means a person who has no partner and who is responsible for, and a member of the same household as, a child or young person;

• ''mobility allowance'' means an allowance under section 37A of the principal Act[^f00013];

• "mobility supplement'' means any supplement under Article 26A of the Naval, Military and Air Forces etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions Order 1983[^f00014] including such a supplement by virtue of any other scheme or order or under Article 25A of the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983[^f00015];

• ''net earnings'' means such earnings as are calculated in accordance with regulation 36;

• “net profit” means such profit as is calculated in accordance with regulation 38;

• “non-dependant” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 3;

• “non-dependant deduction” means a deduction that is to be made under regulation 17(e) and paragraph 11 of Schedule 3;

• “nursing home” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 19(2);

• ''occupational pension'' means any pension or other periodical payment under an occupational pension scheme but does not include any discretionary payment out of a fund established for relieving hardship in particular cases;

• ''partner'' means where a claimant— is a member of a couple, the other member of that couple; is polygamously married to 2 or more members of his household, any such member;

• ''payment'' includes a part of a payment;

• “period of study” means— in the case of a course of study for one year or less, the period beginning with the start of the course to the end; in the case of a course of study for more than one year, in the first or, as the case may be, any subsequent year of the course, the period beginning with the start of the course or, as the case may be, that year's start and ending with either— the day before the start of the next year of the course in a case where the student's grant is assessed at a rate appropriate to his studying throughout the year, or, if he does not have a grant, where it would have been assessed at such a rate had he had one, or in any other case the day before the start of the normal summer vacation appropriate to his course, and for the purposes of this definition, any period of attendance at the educational establishment which is outside the period of the course shall be treated as part of the period of study;

• ''policy of life insurance'' means any instrument by which the payment of money is assured on death (except death by accident only) or the happening of any contingency dependent on human life, or any instrument evidencing a contract which is subject to payment of premiums for a term dependent on human life;

• “polygamous marriage” means any marriage where there is more than one spouse and the ceremony of marriage as between the spouses took place under the law of a country which permits polygamy;

• “relative” means close relative, grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece;

• ''relevant enactment'' has the meaning prescribed in regulation 16(8)(a);

• ''remunerative work'' has the meaning prescribed in regulation 5;

• “residential accommodation” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 21(3);

• “self-employed earner” means a person who is gainfully employed in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland otherwise than in employed earner's employment (whether or not he is also employed in such employment);

• “single claimant” means a claimant who neither has a partner nor is a lone parent;

• “student” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 61;

• “supplementary benefit” means a supplementary pension or allowance under Article 3 or 6 of the Supplementary Benefits (Northern Ireland) Order 1977[^f00016];

• “terminal date” in respect of a claimant means the terminal date in his case for the purposes of regulation 7 of the Child Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1979[^f00017];

• “training allowance” means an allowance (whether by way of periodical grants or otherwise) payable— out of public funds by a government department or by or on behalf of the Department of Economic Development; to a person for his maintenance or in respect of a member of his family; and for the period, or part of the period, during which he is following a course of training or instruction provided by, or in pursuance of arrangements made with, a government department or approved by such department in relation to him or so provided or approved by or on behalf of the Department of Economic Development, but it does not include an allowance paid by any government department to, or in respect of, a person by reason of the fact that he is following a course of full-time education or is training as a teacher;

• ''year of assessment'' has the meaning prescribed in section 526(5) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970[^f00018];

• “young person” has the meaning prescribed in regulation 14.

• (2) Any reference to the claimant's family or, as the case may be, to a member of his family, shall be construed for the purposes of these regulations as if it included, in relation to a polygamous marriage, a reference to any partner and to any child or young person who is treated as the responsibility of the claimant or his partner, where that child or young person is a member of the claimant's household.

• (3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[^f00019] shall apply to these regulations as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Definition of non-dependant

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• (1) In these regulations, ''non-dependant'' means any person, except someone to whom paragraph (2) applies, who normally resides with a claimant.

• (2) This paragraph applies to—

• (a) any member of the claimant's family;

• (b) a child or young person who is living with the claimant but who is not a member of his household by virtue of regulation 16 (circumstances in which a person is to be treated as being or not being a member of the household);

• (c) a person who jointly occupies the claimant's dwelling;

• (d) subject to paragraph (3), any person who is liable to make payments in respect of his occupation of the dwelling to the claimant or the claimant's partner;

• (e) a person who lives with the claimant -in order to care for him or a partner of his and who is engaged by a charitable or voluntary body (other than a Health and Social Services Board) which makes a charge to the claimant or his partner for the services provided by that person.

• (3) A person, other than one to whom paragraph (2)(a) to (c) or (e) applies, who lives in board and lodging accommodation or a hostel within the meaning of regulation 20(2) (persons in board and lodging accommodation and hostels) shall be a non-dependant.

• (4) For the purposes of this regulation a person resides with another only if they share any accommodation except a bathroom, a lavatory or a communal area.

• (5) In this regulation “communal area” means any area (other than rooms) of common access (including halls and passageways) and rooms of common use in sheltered accommodation.

PART II — CONDITIONS OF ENTITLEMENT

Temporary absence from Northern Ireland

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• (1) Where a claimant is entitled to income support for a period immediately preceding a period of temporary absence from Northern Ireland, his entitlement to income support shall continue during the first 4 weeks of that period of temporary absence only in the circumstances specified in paragraph (2).

• (2) The circumstances in which a claimant's entitlement to income support is to continue during the first 4 weeks of a temporary absence from Northern Ireland are that—

• (a) the period of absence is unlikely to exceed 52 weeks;

• (b) while absent from Northern Ireland, the claimant continues to satisfy the other conditions of entitlement to income support; and

• (c) any one of the following conditions applies—

• (i) the claimant is not required to be available for employment under regulation 8(1) and Schedule 1 other than paragraph 5, 10, 18, 19 or 20 of that Schedule (persons not required to be available for employment),

• (ii) he is not required to be available for employment under regulation 8(1) and paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 (persons incapable of work) and his absence from Northern Ireland is for the sole purpose of receiving treatment from an appropriately qualified person for the incapacity by reason of which he is not required to be so available,

• (iii) he is in Great Britain, or

• (iv) he is a member of a couple and he and his partner are both absent from Northern Ireland, and a premium referred to in paragraph 9, 10, 11 or 13 of Schedule 2 (applicable amounts) is applicable in respect of his partner.

Persons treated as engaged in remunerative work

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• (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (5), for the purposes of Article 21(3)(c) of the Order (conditions of entitlement to income support), remunerative work is work in which a person is engaged, or, where his hours of work fluctuate, he is engaged on average, for not less than 24 hours a week being work for which payment is made or which is done in expectation of payment.

• (2) The number of hours for which a person is engaged in work shall be determined—

• (a) where no recognisable cycle has been established in respect of a person's work, by reference to the number of hours or, where those hours are likely to fluctuate, the average of the hours, which he is expected to work in a week;

• (b) where the number of hours for which he is engaged fluctuate, by reference to the average of hours worked over—

• (i) if there is a recognisable cycle of work, the period of one complete cycle (including, where the cycle involves periods in which the person does no work, those periods but disregarding any other absences),

• (ii) in any other case, the period of 5 weeks immediately before the date of claim or the date of review, or such other length of time as may, in the particular case, enable the person's average hours of work to be determined more accurately.

• (3) A person shall be treated as engaged in remunerative work during any period for which he is absent from work referred to in paragraph (1) if the absence is either without good cause or by reason of a recognised, customary or other holiday.

• (4) A person who makes a claim and to whom or to whose partner Article 24 of the Order (trade disputes) applies shall, for the period of 7 days following the date on which the stoppage of work due to a trade dispute at his or his partner's place of work commenced or, if there is no stoppage, the date on which he or his partner first withdrew his labour in furtherance of a trade dispute, be treated as engaged in remunerative work.

• (5) A person who was, or was treated as being, engaged in remunerative work and in respect of that work earnings to which regulation 35(1)(b) to (d) (earnings of employed earners) applies are payable shall be treated as being engaged in remunerative work for the period for which those earnings are taken into account in accordance with Part V.

Persons not treated as engaged in remunerative work

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A person shall not be treated as engaged in remunerative work if—

• (a) he is mentally or physically disabled and his earning capacity is, by reason of that disability, reduced to 75 per cent. or less of what he would, but for that disability, be reasonably expected to earn;

• (b) he is engaged in child minding in his home;

• (c) he is engaged by a charity or voluntary body or is a volunteer where the only payment received by him or due to be paid to him, is a payment which is to be disregarded under regulation 40(2) and paragraph 2 of Schedule 9 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings);

• (d) he is engaged on a scheme for which a training allowance is being paid;

• (e) subject to regulation 5(4) (persons treated as engaged in remunerative work) he is a person to whom Article 24 of the Order (trade disputes) applies; or

• (f) he is a person who is not required to be available for employment because regulation 8 and paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 (person caring for another) apply to him.

Meaning of employment

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For the purposes of Article 21(3)(d) of the Order (conditions of entitlement to income support) only work in employed earner's employment within the meaning of the principal Act—

• (a) which the claimant can reasonably be expected to do;

• (b) for which payment is made or which is done in expectation of payment; and

• (c) for which he would normally be engaged for not less than 24 hours a week or, ff he is mentally or physically disabled, such lesser number of hours as, having regard to his disability, he is usually capable of working,

shall be treated as employment.

Persons not required to be available for employment

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• (1) A person, other than one to whom regulation 10(1)(h) (circumstances in which claimants are not to be treated as available for employment) applies, to whom any paragraph of Schedule 1 (persons not required to be available for employment) applies in any week shall not be required to be available for employment in that week.

• (2) A person, other than one to whom regulation 10(1)(h) applies, to whom none of the provisions of Schedule 1 other than paragraph 5 applies, shall, where—