The Welfare Reform and Pensions (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 7 and Transitional Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2001

Made: 15th March 2001

The Department for Social Development, in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 1(2) and 73(4)(a) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999[^f00001], and now vested in it[^f00002], and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order:

Citation and interpretation

1

• (1) This Order may be cited as the Welfare Reform and Pensions (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 7 and Transitional Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2001.

• (2) In this Order any reference to a numbered Article or Schedule is to the Article of, or the Schedule to, the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 bearing that number.

Amendment of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 3) Order

2

In Part V of the Schedule to the Welfare Reform and Pensions (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 3) Order (Northern Ireland) 2000[^f00003], the entry in respect of Article 5 (duty of employers to facilitate access to stakeholder pension schemes) shall be omitted.

Amendment of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Savings Provisions) Order

3

In Article 3(2) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Savings Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2000[^f00004] (transitional provision in relation to incapacity benefit), for “sections 30A to 30E”, where it first occurs, there shall be substituted “section 30A, 40 or 41”.

Appointed days

4

The day appointed for the coming into operation of—

• (a) paragraph 26 (income support) of Schedule 8 (welfare benefits: minor and consequential amendments) and Article 67 (welfare benefits: miscellaneous amendments) in so far as it relates to that paragraph, is 19th March 2001;

• (b) the following provisions of Article 5 (duty of employers to facilitate access to stakeholder pension schemes), in so far as not already in operation—

• (i) the second paragraph of paragraph (2) and paragraph (6), and paragraph (7) in so far as relating thereto,

• (ii) paragraph (8), and

• (iii) paragraph (9) in so far as relating to the definitions of “employer” and “relevant employees”,

and paragraph (1) in so far as it relates to those provisions, is 6th April 2001;

• (c) Article 5, in so far as not already in operation, is 8th October 2001.

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 15th March 2001.

John O'Neill — Senior Officer of the — Department for Social Development

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order.)

This Order provides for the coming into operation of further provisions of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 as follows—

• the commencement of parts of Article 5, which relates to stakeholder pension schemes, is brought forward from 8th October 2001 to 6th April 2001 so that the requirement that an employer consult prior to designating a scheme under Article 5(2) is brought forward to allow valid designation of a scheme by an employer prior to 8th October 2001 for the purposes of his duty under Article 5(2). The commencement of related provisions is also brought forward to 6th April 2001 (Article 4(b));

• paragraph 26 of Schedule 8, which is consequential on the coming into operation of Article 56 and Schedule 7 (joint claims for jobseeker’s allowance), on 19th March 2001 (Article 4(a)).

• Article 3(2) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Savings Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2000 is amended to clarify a transitional provision in relation to incapacity benefit (Article 3).

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11)

[^f00002]: See Article 8(b) of S.R. 1999 No. 481

[^f00003]: S.R. 2000 No. 133 (C. 5)

[^f00004]: S.R. 2000 No. 332 (C. 14)