The Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

Made: 21st June 2006

Coming into operation in accordance with regulation 1

The Department for Social Development makes the following Regulations in exercise of powers conferred by Articles 16(1), 18(4), 29(2) and (3), 32, 34, 37A(3) and 48(4) of, and paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 to, the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991[^f00001] and now vested in it[^f00002].

Citation and Commencement

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 and, subject to paragraph (2), come into operation on 12th July 2006.

• (2) Where, in relation to a particular case, paragraph 24 of Schedule 3 to the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000[^f00003] has not come into operation before 12th July 2006, regulation 3(3) shall come into operation for the purposes of that case on the day on which that paragraph comes into operation.

Amendment of the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations

2

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Amendment of the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations

3

• (1) The Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992[^f00007] are amended as follows.

• (2) In regulation 3[^f00008] (method of payment):—

• (a) after paragraph (1)(f) add:—

(g) by credit card; (h) by a voluntary deduction from earnings arrangement.

• (b) for paragraph (1A)[^f00009] substitute:—

(1A) In paragraph (1):— (a) “debit card” means a card, operating as a substitute for a cheque that can be used to obtain cash or to make a payment at a point of sale whereby the card holder’s bank or building society account is debited without deferment of payment; (b) “credit card” means a card which is a credit-token within the meaning of section 14(1)(b) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974; (c) “voluntary deduction from earnings arrangement” means an arrangement under which the liable person and his employer agree that payments of child support maintenance are to be deducted from the liable person’s earnings and paid to the Department.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) In regulation 27 (application for a liability order) for paragraph (2) substitute the following paragraphs:—

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), there is no period of limitation in relation to an application under paragraph (1). (3) An application under paragraph (1) may not be instituted in respect of an amount payment of which became due on or before 12th July 2000.

Amendment of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations

4

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Amendment of the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations

5

• (1) The Child Support (Collection and Enforcement and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001[^f00012] are amended as follows.

• (2) At the end of regulation 1(2)[^f00013] (citation, commencement and interpretation) add “; and regulation 3(4)(a)(ii) shall, to the extent that that provision is not already in operation on 12th July 2006, come into operation on that date”.

• (3) In regulation 5(1)[^f00014] (savings):—

• (a) at the end of sub-paragraph (a) and head (i) insert “or”;

• (b) at the end of sub-paragraph (b) and head (ii) omit “or”; and

• (c) omit sub-paragraph (c) and head (iii).

Amendment of the Child Support (Maintenance Calculation Procedure) Regulations

6

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Revocation

7

Regulation 3(4)(b) of the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 is revoked.

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 21st June 2006.

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

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations provide for the amendments of various sets of Regulations relating to child support.

The powers exercised to make these Regulations are those contained in the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (“the 1991 Order”), as amended by the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000 (“the 2000 Act”). Some of the amendments made by the 2000 Act are only in operation for the purposes of specified categories of case (see the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security (2000 Act) (Commencement No 9) Order (Northern Ireland) 2003) (“the new scheme”). In all other cases the 1991 Order prior to those amendments continues to apply (“the old scheme”).

Regulation 1 makes provision for citation and commencement. The Regulations come into operation on 12th July 2006, save that regulation 3(3) (which relates to deduction from earnings orders) only comes into operation for cases under the new scheme.

Regulation 2 amends the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 by making provision for credit reference agencies to be required to furnish information to the Department.

Regulation 3 makes a number of amendments to the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992. Firstly, it extends the range of arrangements for collection of child support by adding payment by credit card and voluntary deduction from earnings arrangements (paragraph (2)). Secondly, it provides a basis for calculating the protected earnings proportion in relation to a deduction from earnings order which relates only to arrears of child support maintenance (paragraph (3)). Thirdly, it removes the six year limitation period for an application for a liability order, but only in relation to amounts that became due after 12th July 2000 (that is amounts which were not already time barred at the commencement of these Regulations) (paragraph 4).

Regulation 4 amends the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 by revoking the provision which specifies an effective date in a case where a default maintenance decision is revised as if it were a maintenance calculation under Article 13 of the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.

Regulation 5 amends the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 in two respects. Firstly, it amends the commencement provisions so as to bring fully into operation (that is for both old and new scheme cases) the amendments in those Regulations which make provision for collection of child support maintenance by debit card (paragraph (2)). Secondly, it amends the savings provision in regulation 5 so that, in cases which have been converted from the old scheme to the new scheme, all arrears of child support maintenance, whenever they accrued, are treated the same for collection and enforcement (paragraph (3)).

Regulation 6 amends the Child Support (Maintenance Calculation Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 by providing for an interim effective date for the initial calculation of child support maintenance in cases where the available information does not cover the whole of the relevant period.

Regulation 7 makes a consequential revocation.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this rule as it has no impact on the costs of business.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I. 1991/2628 (N.I. 23); Article 16(1) is amended by section 12 of, and paragraph 16 of Schedule 3 to, the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000 (c. 4 (N.I.)); Article 18 was substituted by Article 40 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/1506 (N.I.10)) and is amended by section 8 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000; Article 29(2) and (3) is amended by section 1(2)(a) and (b) of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000; Article 37A was inserted by section 16(3) of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000 and paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 is amended by section 1(2)(a) and (b) of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000

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

[^f00003]: 2000 c. 4 (N.I.); see Article 3 of S.R. 2003 No. 53 (C. 4) for the commencement of paragraph 24 of Schedule 3 to that Act

[^f00007]: S.R. 1992 No. 390

[^f00008]: Regulation 3 was amended by regulation 3(4) of S.R. 2001 No. 15

[^f00012]: S.R. 2001 No. 15

[^f00013]: Regulation 1(2) was amended by regulation 2 of S.R. 2001 No. 197

[^f00014]: Regulation 5 was amended by regulation 2(5) of S.R. 2003 No. 91

Editorial notes

[^key-4bb8fa822ac0e92d202ced85d54065dc]: Reg. 1 in operation at 12.7.2006, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-66e78bbd716ba5cee00e8ef85eaca651]: Reg. 3(1)(2)(4) in operation at 12.7.2006, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-63e764760d64cf6eaf1a1ad59d3716f6]: Reg. 5 in operation at 12.7.2006, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-63c5563d5fe81bf6f48965d0b255ef36]: Reg. 7 in operation at 12.7.2006, see reg. 1(1)

[^key-b93452946b62a029b4ef641af7225b19]: Reg. 2 revoked (27.10.2008) by The Child Support Information Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (S.R. 2008/403), reg. 1, Sch. (with reg. 15(2))

[^key-8e832b88c8bf5ff7e7bc289e0557346c]: Reg. 3(3) revoked (10.12.2012 for specified purposes) by The Child Support (Meaning of Child and New Calculation Rules) (Consequential and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 (S.R. 2012/438), regs. 1(1)(c), 9(2), Sch.

[^key-c78cab405e0695c11176216c82694d19]: Reg. 4 revoked (10.12.2012 for specified purposes) by The Child Support (Meaning of Child and New Calculation Rules) (Consequential and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 (S.R. 2012/438), regs. 1(1)(c), 9(2), Sch.

[^key-d2655ab70eabecc37758b56d4b2c9107]: Reg. 6 revoked (10.12.2012 for specified purposes) by The Child Support (Meaning of Child and New Calculation Rules) (Consequential and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 (S.R. 2012/438), regs. 1(1)(c), 9(2), Sch.