Made | 11th September 2003 | ||
Coming into operation | 12th April 2004 |
(3) Regulations 2 to 12 apply to a partner in circumstances where on or after 12th April 2004 the claimant's award of a specified benefit is being administered from an office of the Department which is designated by the Department as a Jobs and Benefits Office[5] and the claimant has been continuously entitled to the benefit for 26 weeks or longer.
(4) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[6] shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
Requirement for partner to take part in an interview as a condition of a specified benefit continuing to be paid at full amount
2.
- (1) Subject to regulations 4 to 7, a partner to whom these Regulations apply is required to take part in an interview as a condition of the claimant continuing to be paid the full amount of a specified benefit which is payable apart from these Regulations.
(2) Where a requirement to take part in an interview arises under paragraph (1), a requirement to take part in an interview shall also apply to any other specified benefit in payment to the claimant at a higher rate referable to his partner on the date set for the interview and notified to the partner in accordance with regulation 8(1).
Time when interview is to take place
3.
An officer shall arrange for an interview to take place as soon as reasonably practicable after -
Waiver of requirement to take part in an interview
4.
- (1) A requirement imposed by these Regulations to take part in an interview shall not apply where an officer determines that an interview would not -
(2) A partner in relation to whom a requirement to take part in an interview has been waived under paragraph (1) shall be treated for the purposes of regulation 2 as having complied with that requirement.
Deferment of requirement to take part in an interview
5.
- (1) An officer may determine, in the case of any particular partner, that the requirement to take part in an interview shall be deferred at the time that the requirement to take part in it arises or applies because an interview would not at that time -
(2) Where the officer determines in accordance with paragraph (1) that the requirement to take part in an interview shall be deferred, he shall also, when that determination is made, determine the time when the requirement to take part in an interview is to apply in the partner's case.
(3) Where a requirement to take part in an interview has been deferred in accordance with paragraph (1), then until -
the partner shall be treated for the purposes of regulation 2 as having complied with that requirement.
Exemption
6.
A partner who, on the day on which the requirement to take part in an interview arises or applies under regulation 2(1) or 5(2), is in receipt of a specified benefit as a claimant in his own right shall be exempt from the requirement to take part in an interview under these Regulations.
Claims for two or more specified benefits
7.
A partner who would otherwise be required under these Regulations to take part in interviews relating to more than one specified benefit -
The interview
8.
- (1) An officer shall inform a partner who is required to take part in an interview of the date, place and time of the interview.
(2) The officer may determine that an interview is to take place in the partner's home where it would, in his opinion, be unreasonable to expect the partner to attend elsewhere because the partner's personal circumstances are such that attending elsewhere would cause him undue inconvenience or endanger his health.
(3) An officer shall conduct the interview.
Taking part in an interview
9.
- (1) The officer shall determine whether a partner has taken part in an interview.
(2) A partner shall be regarded as having taken part in an interview if, and only if -
(3) Where an officer determines that a partner has failed to take part in an interview and good cause has not been shown either by the partner or by the claimant for that failure within 5 working days of the day on which the interview was to take place, a relevant decision shall be made for the purposes of section 2B[7] of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (work-focused interviews) and the partner and the claimant shall be notified accordingly.
Failure to take part in an interview
10.
- (1) Where a relevant decision has been made in accordance with regulation 9(3), subject to paragraph (11) the specified benefit payable to the claimant in respect of which the requirement for the partner to take part in an interview under regulation 2 arose shall be reduced, either as from the first day of the next benefit week following the day on which the relevant decision was made, or, if that date arises 5 days or less after the day on which the relevant decision was made, as from the first day of the second benefit week following the date of the relevant decision.
(2) The deduction made to benefit in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be by a sum equal (but subject to paragraphs (3) and (4)) to 20 per cent. of the amount applicable on the date the deduction commences in respect of a single claimant for income support aged not less than 25.
(3) Benefit reduced in accordance with paragraph (1) shall not be reduced below 10 pence per week.
(4) Where two or more specified benefits are in payment to a claimant, in relation to each of which a requirement for the partner to take part in an interview had arisen under regulation 2, a deduction made in accordance with this regulation shall be applied, except in a case to which paragraph (5) applies, to the specified benefits in the following order of priority -
(5) Where the amount of the reduction is greater than some (but not all) of those benefits, the reduction shall be made against the first benefit in the list in paragraph (4) which is the same as, or greater than, the amount of the reduction.
(6) For the purpose of determining whether a benefit is the same as, or greater than, the amount of the reduction for the purposes of paragraph (5), 10 pence shall be added to the amount of the reduction.
(7) In a case where the whole of the reduction cannot be applied against any one benefit because no one benefit is the same as, or greater than, the amount of the reduction, the reduction shall be applied against the first benefit in the list of priorities at paragraph (4) and so on against each benefit in turn until the whole of the reduction is exhausted or, if this is not possible, the whole of those benefits are exhausted, subject in each case to 10 pence remaining in payment.
(8) Where the rate of any specified benefit payable to a claimant changes, the rules set out above for a reduction in the benefit payable shall be applied to the new rates and any adjustments to the benefits against which the reductions are made shall take effect from the beginning of the first benefit week to commence for that claimant following the change.
(9) Where the partner of a claimant whose benefit has been reduced in accordance with this regulation subsequently takes part in an interview, the reduction shall cease to have effect on the first day of the benefit week in which the requirement to take part in an interview was met.
(10) For the purposes of determining the amount of any benefit payable, a claimant shall be treated as receiving the amount of any specified benefit which would have been payable but for a reduction made in accordance with this regulation.
(11) Benefit shall not be reduced in accordance with this regulation where the partner or the claimant brings new facts to the notice of the officer within 1 month of the date on which the decision that the partner failed without good cause to take part in an interview was notified and -
Circumstances where regulation 10 does not apply
11.
The reduction of benefit to be made under regulation 10 shall not apply as from the date when a partner who failed to take part in an interview ceases to be a partner for the purposes of these Regulations or is no longer a partner to whom these Regulations apply under the provisions within regulation 1(3).
Good cause
12.
Matters to be taken into account in determining whether the partner or the claimant has shown good cause for the partner's failure to take part in an interview include -
Appeals
13.
- (1) This regulation applies to any relevant decision made under regulation 9(3) or any decision under Article 11 of the 1998 Order (decisions superseding earlier decisions) superseding such a decision.
(2) This regulation applies whether the decision is as originally made or as revised under Article 10 of the 1998 Order (revision of decisions).
(3) In the case of a decision to which this regulation applies, the partner in respect of whom the decision was made and the claimant shall each have a right of appeal under Article 13 of the 1998 Order (appeal to appeal tribunal) to an appeal tribunal.
Amendment of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations
14.
- (1) The Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999[8] shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (5).
(2) In regulation 1(2) (citation, commencement and interpretation) -
(3) In regulation 3(6A)[12] (revision of decisions), after "section 2B(2)" there shall be inserted "or (2A)".
(4) In regulation 6(2) (supersession of decisions), at the end of sub-paragraph (h)(ii)[13] there shall be added "or, in the case of a partner who was required to take part in a work-focused interview under the Social Security (Work-focused Interviews for Partners) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003, ceased to be a partner for the purposes of those Regulations or is no longer a partner to whom those Regulations apply".
(5) For paragraph (25)[14] of regulation 7 (date from which a decision superseded under Article 11 takes effect) there shall be substituted the following paragraph -
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on
11th September 2003.
L.S.
John O'Neill
Senior Officer of the Department for Social Development
[2] See Article 8(b) of S.R. 1999 No. 481back
[4] S.I. 1998/1506 (N.I. 10)back
[5] A list of offices designated as Jobs and Benefits Offices is available from the following address: Department for Social Development, Social Security Agency, Operations Support Directorate, 2nd Floor, Churchill House, Victoria Square, Belfast BT1 4SSback
[7] Section 2B was inserted by Article 54 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 and amended by section 8(1) of, and paragraphs 5 and 6 of Schedule 1 to, the Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 (c. 10)back
[8] S.R. 1999 No. 162; relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 2001 Nos. 23 and 176 and S.R. 2003 No. 274back
[9] Paragraph (b) was amended by regulation 2(2)(c) of S.R. 2001 No. 23back
[10] Section 2B was inserted by Article 54 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11)) and amended by paragraphs 5 and 6 of Schedule 1 to the Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2002back
[11] The definition of "work-focused interview" was inserted by paragraph 2(d) of Schedule 4 to S.R. 2001 No. 176 and substituted by paragraph 5(a)(ii) of Schedule 2 to S.R. 2003 No. 274back
[12] Paragraph (6A) was inserted by paragraph 3(a) of Schedule 4 to S.R. 2001 No. 176back
[13] Sub-paragraph (h) was added by paragraph 4 of Schedule 4 to S.R. 2001 No. 176back
[14] Paragraph (25) was added by paragraph 5 of Schedule 4 to S.R. 2001 No. 176back