LegalizeThe Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance (Rates of Allowances) (Amendment and Modification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
Made: 13th March 2026
Coming into operation: 6th April 2026
The powers are exercisable by the Department for Communities by virtue of Article 2 of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (Cessation of Transitory Provision) Order 2020[^f00003].
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1
- (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance (Rates of Allowances) (Amendment and Modification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026 and come into operation in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).
- (2) This regulation comes into operation on 6th April 2026.
- (3) Regulations 2 and 4 and the Schedule, in so far as they relate to a particular beneficiary of an award of employment and support allowance, come into operation on the first day of the first benefit week to commence for that beneficiary on or after 6th April 2026, and for this purpose “benefit week” has the same meaning as in regulation 2(1) of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008[^f00004].
- (4) Regulation 3 comes into operation on 6th April 2026 and has effect in relation to assessment periods commencing on or after this date, and for this purpose “assessment period” has the same meaning as in Article 12(2) of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 and regulation 22 of the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016[^f00005].
- (5) In these Regulations, “the LCWRA element” has the meaning given by regulation 28 of the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016.
- (6) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[^f00006] applies to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
Amendments to the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations
2
- (1) The Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 are amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (7).
- (2) In regulation 67[^f00007] (prescribed amounts)—
- (a) in paragraph (1)(a) for “paragraph 1(1), (2) or (3) of Schedule 4” substitute “paragraph A1(1), (2) or (3) of Part A1 of Schedule 4”;
- (b) in paragraph (2) before “Schedule 4” insert “Part 1 of”.
- (3) Before Part 1 of Schedule 4 (prescribed amounts) insert—
(A1) The weekly amounts specified in column (2) in respect of each person or couple specified in column (1) shall be the weekly amounts specified for the purposes of regulations 67(1) and 68 (prescribed amounts for the calculation of the amount of an income-related allowance and polygamous marriages)—
| (1) Person or Couple | (1) Person or Couple | (1) Person or Couple | (1) Person or Couple | (2) Amount | (2) Amount | (2) Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) | Single claimant— | Single claimant— | Single claimant— | (1) | ||
| (a) | who satisfies the conditions set out in section 4(4) of the Act or who is a member of the work-related activity group; | who satisfies the conditions set out in section 4(4) of the Act or who is a member of the work-related activity group; | (a) | £97.75; | ||
| (b) | aged not less than 25; | aged not less than 25; | (b) | £97.75; | ||
| (c) | aged less than 25. | aged less than 25. | (c) | £77.52. | ||
| (2) | Lone parent or a person who has no partner and who is responsible for and a member of the same household as a young person— | Lone parent or a person who has no partner and who is responsible for and a member of the same household as a young person— | Lone parent or a person who has no partner and who is responsible for and a member of the same household as a young person— | (2) | ||
| (a) | who satisfies the conditions set out in section 4(4) of the Act or who is a member of the work-related activity group and satisfies the conditions set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act; | who satisfies the conditions set out in section 4(4) of the Act or who is a member of the work-related activity group and satisfies the conditions set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act; | (a) | £97.75; | ||
| (b) | aged not less than 18; | aged not less than 18; | (b) | £97.75; | ||
| (c) | aged less than 18. | aged less than 18. | (c) | £77.52. | ||
| (3) | Couple— | Couple— | Couple— | (3) | ||
| (a) | where both members are aged not less than 18; | where both members are aged not less than 18; | (a) | £153.61; | ||
| (b) | where one member is aged not less than 18 and the other member is a person under 18 who— | where one member is aged not less than 18 and the other member is a person under 18 who— | (b) | £153.61; | ||
| (i) | if that other member had not been a member of a couple, would satisfy the requirements for entitlement to income support other than the requirement to make a claim for it, | |||||
| (ii) | if that other member had not been a member of a couple, would satisfy the requirements for entitlement to an income-related allowance, | |||||
| (iii) | satisfies the requirements of Article 5(1)(f)(iii) of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order (prescribed circumstances for person aged 16 but less than 18), or | |||||
| (iv) | is the subject of a direction under Article 18 of that Order (persons under 18: severe hardship); | |||||
| (c) | where the claimant satisfies the conditions set out in section 4(4) of the Act or the claimant is a member of the work-related activity group and satisfies the conditions set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act and both members are aged less than 18 and— | where the claimant satisfies the conditions set out in section 4(4) of the Act or the claimant is a member of the work-related activity group and satisfies the conditions set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act and both members are aged less than 18 and— | (c) | £153.61; | ||
| (i) | at least one of them is treated as responsible for a child, | |||||
| (ii) | had they not been members of a couple, each would have qualified for an income-related allowance, | |||||
| (iii) | had they not been members of a couple the claimant’s partner would satisfy the requirements for entitlement to income support other than the requirement to make a claim for it, | |||||
| (iv) | the claimant’s partner satisfies the requirements of Article 5(1)(f)(iii) of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order (prescribed circumstances for persons aged 16 but less than 18), or | |||||
| (v) | there is in force in respect of that claimant’s partner a direction under Article 18 of that Order (persons under 18: severe hardship); | |||||
| (d) | where both members are aged less than 18 and— | where both members are aged less than 18 and— | (d) | £117.00; | ||
| (i) | at least one of them is treated as responsible for a child, | |||||
| (ii) | had they not been members of a couple, each would have qualified for an income-related allowance, | |||||
| (iii) | had they not been members of a couple the claimant’s partner satisfies the requirements for entitlement to income support other than a requirement to make a claim for it, | |||||
| (iv) | the claimant’s partner satisfies the requirements of Article 5(1)(f)(iii) of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order (prescribed circumstances for persons aged 16 but less than 18), or | |||||
| (v) | there is in force in respect of the claimant’s partner a direction under Article 18 of that Order (persons under 18: severe hardship); | |||||
| (e) | where the claimant is aged not less than 25 and the claimant’s partner is a person under 18 who— | where the claimant is aged not less than 25 and the claimant’s partner is a person under 18 who— | (e) | £97.75; | ||
| (i) | would not quality for an income-related allowance if the person were not a member of a couple, | |||||
| (ii) | would not qualify for income support if the person were not a member of a couple, | |||||
| (iii) | does not satisfy the requirements of Article 5(1)(f)(iii) of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order (prescribed circumstances for persons aged 16 but less than 18), and | |||||
| (iv) | is not the subject of a direction under Article 18 of that Order (persons under 18: severe hardship); | |||||
| (f) | where the claimant satisfies the conditions set out in section 4(4) of the Act or the claimant is a member of the work-related activity group and satisfies the conditions set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act and the claimant’s partner is a person under 18 who— | where the claimant satisfies the conditions set out in section 4(4) of the Act or the claimant is a member of the work-related activity group and satisfies the conditions set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act and the claimant’s partner is a person under 18 who— | (f) | £97.75; | ||
| (i) | would not qualify for an income-related allowance if the person were not a member of a couple, | |||||
| (ii) | would not qualify for income support if the person were not a member of a couple, | |||||
| (iii) | does not satisfy the requirements of Article 5(1)(f)(iii) of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order (prescribed circumstances for persons aged 16 but less than 18), and | |||||
| (iv) | is not the subject of a direction under Article 18 of that Order (persons under 18: severe hardship); | |||||
| (g) | where the claimant satisfies the conditions set out in section 4(4) of the Act or the claimant is a member of the work-related activity group and satisfies the conditions set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act and both members are aged less than 18 and paragraph (c) does not apply; | where the claimant satisfies the conditions set out in section 4(4) of the Act or the claimant is a member of the work-related activity group and satisfies the conditions set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act and both members are aged less than 18 and paragraph (c) does not apply; | (g) | £97.75; | ||
| (h) | where the claimant is aged not less than 18 but less than 25 and the claimant’s partner is a person under 18 who— | where the claimant is aged not less than 18 but less than 25 and the claimant’s partner is a person under 18 who— | (h) | £77.52; | ||
| (i) | would not qualify for an income-related allowance if the person were not a member of a couple, | |||||
| (ii) | would not qualify for income support if the person were not a member of a couple, | |||||
| (iii) | does not satisfy the requirements of Article 5(1)(f)(iii) of the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order (prescribed circumstances for persons aged 16 but less than 18), and | |||||
| (iv) | is not the subject of a direction under Article 18 of that Order (persons under 18: severe hardship); | |||||
| (i) | where both members are aged less than 18 and paragraph (d) does not apply. | where both members are aged less than 18 and paragraph (d) does not apply. | (i) | £77.52. | ||
- (4) In Part 1 of Schedule 4[^f00008]—
- (a) for the heading substitute “Prescribed amounts for a contributory allowance”;
- (b) in paragraph 1—
- (i) for the opening words substitute—
(1) The weekly amounts specified in column (2) in respect of each person or couple specified in column (1) shall be the weekly amounts specified for the purpose of regulation 67(2) (prescribed amounts for the calculation of the amount of a contributory allowance)—
- (ii) in sub-paragraph (1)(a) omit “or 4(4)”,
- (iii) omit sub-paragraphs (2) and (3).
- (5) In paragraph 11[^f00009] of Part 3 of Schedule 4 (weekly amount of premiums specified in Part 2)—
- (a) in sub-paragraph (2)—
- (i) for “£82.90”, in each place it occurs, substitute “£86.05”,
- (ii) for “£165.80” substitute “£172.10”,
- (b) in sub-paragraph (4)—
- (i) for “£21.20” substitute “£22.00”,
- (ii) for “£30.25” substitute “£31.40”.
- (6) For paragraph 13[^f00010] of Part 4 of Schedule 4 (the component) substitute—
(13) The amount of the support component for the purposes of an income-related allowance is “£48.50”.
- (7) The Schedule makes further amendments to Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 in connection with amendments made by this regulation.
Amendments to the Universal Credit Regulations
3
- (1) The Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016[^f00011] are amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).
- (2) In regulation 28A (meaning of “pre-2026 claimant”), after paragraph (1) insert—
(1A) Schedule 5A sets out further circumstances in which a claimant with limited capability for work and work-related activity is a “pre-2026 claimant” for the purposes of regulation 28.
- (3) In the table in regulation 38 (amounts of elements)—
- (a) for the row showing the amounts of the standard allowance substitute—
| Standard allowance— | Standard allowance— |
|---|---|
| single claimant aged under 25 | £338.58 |
| single claimant aged 25 or over | £424.90 |
| joint claimants both age under 25 | £528.34 |
| joint claimants where either is aged 25 or over | £666.97 |
- (b) in the row showing the amount of the LCWRA element that applies to a pre-2026 claimant, severe conditions criteria claimant or claimant who is terminally ill for “£423.27” substitute “£429.80”.
- (4) After Schedule 5 (housing costs element for owner-occupiers), insert—
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