
1 

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 and shall come into operation on 1st April 2003.
(2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
2 

(1) The Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).
(2) In Schedule 9 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) after paragraph 71 the following paragraph shall be added –“
72. 
Any payment made by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to the claimant or his partner, or to another person on their behalf, relating to housing support services under Article 4 of the Housing Support Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, where the claimant or his partner qualified for that payment.”.
(3) In Schedule 10 (capital to be disregarded) –
(a) at the end of paragraph 25 there shall be added “or, where that dwelling is occupied as the home by the former partner who is a lone parent, for as long as it is so occupied”;
(b) after paragraph 61 the following paragraph shall be added –“
62. 
Any payment made by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to the claimant or his partner, or to another person on their behalf, relating to housing support services under Article 4 of the Housing Support Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, where the claimant or his partner qualified for that payment.”.
3 

(1) The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).
(2) In paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 5A (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of earnings of members of joint-claim couples) for “an invalid care allowance” in each place where those words occur there shall be substituted “a carer’s allowance”.
(3) In Schedule 6 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) after paragraph 67 the following paragraph shall be added –“
68. 
Any payment made by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to the claimant or his partner, or to another person on their behalf, relating to housing support services under Article 4 of the Housing Support Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, where the claimant or his partner qualified for that payment.”.
(4) In Schedule 7 (capital to be disregarded) –
(a) at the end of paragraph 5 there shall be added “or, where that dwelling is occupied as the home by the former partner who is a lone parent, for as long as it is so occupied”;
(b) after paragraph 54 the following paragraph shall be added –“
55. 
Any payment made by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to the claimant or his partner, or to another person on their behalf, relating to housing support services under Article 4 of the Housing Support Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, where the claimant or his partner qualified for that payment.”.
4 

(1) The Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).
(2) In Schedule 4 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) –
(a) after paragraph 4A the following paragraph shall be inserted –“
4B. 
In the case of housing benefit, which was in the form of a rate rebate only, where the claimant, or the person who was the partner of the claimant on 31st March 2003, was entitled on that date to income support or an income-based jobseeker’s allowance but ceased to be so entitled on or before 5th April 2003 by virtue only of regulation 12 of the Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 3) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999, the whole of his income.”;
(b) after paragraph 73 the following paragraph shall be inserted –“
74. 
Any payment made by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to the claimant or his partner, or to another person on their behalf, relating to housing support services under Article 4 of the Housing Support Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, where the claimant or his partner qualified for that payment.”.
(3) After paragraph 63 of Schedule 5 (capital to be disregarded) the following paragraph shall be added –“
64. 
Any payment made by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to the claimant or his partner, or to another person on their behalf, relating to housing support services under Article 4 of the Housing Support Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, where the claimant or his partner qualified for that payment.”.
5 
For regulation 4 of the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 there shall be substituted the following regulation –“
4. 
The amount of a discretionary housing payment (calculated as a weekly sum) shall not exceed, in a case to which regulation 2(1) refers, an amount equal to the amount of the aggregate of the payments specified in regulation 10(1) of the Housing Benefit Regulations (rent) less the aggregate of the amounts referred to in paragraph (3)(b) of that regulation and any deductions made in accordance with regulation 62 (housing benefit tapers) or regulation 63 (non-dependant deductions) calculated on a weekly basis in accordance with regulation 69 (calculation of weekly amounts) and regulation 70 (rent and rate-free periods) of those Regulations.”.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 10th March 2003.
John O'Neill
Senior Officer of the
Department for Social Development
The Department of Finance and Personnel hereby consents to regulation 4 of the foregoing Regulations.Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel on 10th March 2003.
Rodney Scott
Senior Officer of the
Department of Finance and Personnel
