The Housing Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments No. 4) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Made: 8th November 2005

Coming into operation: 10th November 2005

The Department for Social Development, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 129(2), 131(5) and (6), 132(4)(a) and (b), 132A(3), 133(2)(c) and (d) and 171(1), (3) and (4) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992[^f00001], sections 5(1)(a), (b), (hh), (j) and (l), 5A(1) and (2)(b) and 165(1) and (4) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992[^f00002], Article 74(1) and (7) of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998[^f00003] and paragraphs 1, 13, 14, 15, 20 and 23 of Schedule 7 to the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000[^f00004], and now vested in it[^f00005], and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel[^f00006], and after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee that proposals in respect of these Regulations should not be referred to it[^f00007], hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Housing Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments No. 4) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 10th November 2005.

• (2) In these Regulations—

• ...[^f00008]

• [^f00009]

• “the Decisions and Appeals Regulations” means the Housing Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001[^f00010].

• (3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[^f00011] shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

Amendment of the Housing Benefit Regulations

2

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Amendment of the Decisions and Appeals Regulations

3

In regulation 14(2) of the Decisions and Appeals Regulations (termination in cases of a failure to furnish information) for sub-paragraph (a) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

(a) subject to sub-paragraph (b) before the end of the period under regulation 13(4) for the provision of information.

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 8th November 2005.

John O'Neill — A senior officer of the — Department for Social Development

The Department of Finance and Personnel hereby consents to the foregoing Regulations

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel on 9th November 2005.

Jack Layberry — 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 Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the Housing Benefit Regulations”) as so and as not so modified by the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 as set out in regulation 2(2) and the Housing Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 (“the Decisions and Appeals Regulations”).

Regulation 2(3) expands the definition of “appropriate office” to include an office dealing with state pension credit.

Regulation 2(4) and (5) provides that a person is considered to be disabled for the purpose of determining child care charge deductions if they cease to be registered as blind within the period that begins 28 weeks before the first Monday in September following their fifteenth birthday and ends on the day preceding the first Monday in September following the person’s sixteenth birthday.

Regulation 2(6), (7), (8), (10) and (11) provides that the tax rates to be used to determine the amount of tax and contributions that should be deducted to find the net amount of profit or earnings shall be the rate applicable to the assessment period.

Regulation 2(9), (12) and (13) substitutes the term “revision and supersession” for the term “review”, which reflects updated terminology.

Regulation 2(14) makes amendments consequential to the amendments made by regulation 2(20).

Regulation 2(15) revokes rules linking a claim for housing benefit to certain social security benefits. It also introduces two new rules for determining the date of claim. The first relates to bereaved or separated persons and the second provides that the date of claim is the date a claimant notifies his intention of making a claim provided he makes that claim within one month of being issued with a claim form. It also aligns the time scales for providing information and backdating claims in the Housing Benefit Regulations with those used in other benefits and in the Decisions and Appeals Regulations.

Regulation 2(16) and (17) align the time scales for providing information and backdating claims in the Housing Benefit Regulations with those used in other benefits and in the Decisions and Appeals Regulations.

Regulation 2(18) provides for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to send an instrument for the first payment of a rent allowance to the claimant, made payable to the landlord, where it has superseded an earlier decision on the claim due to a change in the claimant’s address.

Regulation 2(19) includes lone parents in the list of those who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit and who may be treated as severely disabled in the stipulated circumstances.

Regulation 2(20) extends the number of payments that should be fully disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings and paragraph (20)(b) makes amendments consequential to that change.

Regulation 3 amends the Decisions and Appeals Regulations to shorten the time before a relevant authority can terminate an award of housing benefit following the suspension of its payment.

These Regulations do not impose any charge on business.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1992 c. 7; section 132A was inserted by paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 (c. 14 (N.I.)); section 133(2)(d) was substituted by paragraph 18(3) of Schedule 2 to the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2705 (N.I. 15)); section 171(1) was amended by paragraph 5 of Schedule 4 to the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c. 21)

[^f00002]: ()1992 c. 8; paragraph (hh) was inserted by Article 5 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/1506 (N.I. 10)); section 5A was inserted by Article 68 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11))

[^f00003]: S.I. 1998/1506 (N.I. 10); Article 74(1) was amended by paragraph 17 of Schedule 4 to the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c. 21)

[^f00004]: 2000 c. 4 (N.I.)

[^f00005]: See Article 8(b) of S.R. 1999 No. 481

[^f00006]: See section 171(6A) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 as inserted by Article 3(3) of the Social Security (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 (S.I. 1993/1579 (N.I. 8)); see also Article 6(b) of S.R. 1999 No. 481

[^f00007]: See section 150(1)(b) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8)

[^f00008]: S.R. 1987 No. 461; relevant amending rules are S.R. 1990 Nos. 137, 305 and 345, S.R. 1991 Nos. 47, 176 and 520, S.R. 1992 No. 404, S.R. 1993 Nos. 145 and 381, S.R. 1994 Nos. 274 and 335, S.R. 1996 Nos. 93, 181 and 334, S.R. 1998 No. 81, S.R. 1999 No. 298, S.R. 2000 Nos. 242 and 260, S.R. 2001 Nos. 175 and 215, S.R. 2002 No. 299, S.R. 2003 Nos. 197, 317 and 418, S.R. 2004 No. 516 and S.R. 2005 No. 148

[^f00009]: S.R. 2003 No.197; relevant amending regulations are S.R. 2003 No. 418

[^f00010]: S.R. 2001 No. 213

[^f00011]: 1954 c. 33 (N.I.)

Editorial notes

[^key-3bc1956d3d97c9b02876937c58b2d25b]: Reg. 1 in operation at 10.11.2005, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-e450a801fefc20f5a4659410371128b3]: Reg. 3 in operation at 10.11.2005, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-4836384e98e29494654d19b7c83176bd]: Words in reg. 1(2) revoked (20.11.2006) by The Housing Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (S.R. 2006/407), reg. 1(1), Sch. 1 (with regs. 2, 6(2), Sch. 3, Sch. 4)

[^key-1bb1cf4bafbd7555457f66c1f03bc666]: Reg. 2 revoked (20.11.2006) by The Housing Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (S.R. 2006/407), reg. 1(1), Sch. 1 (with regs. 2, 6(2), Sch. 3, Sch. 4)