FAMILY LAW Citation and commencement 1 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Child Support and Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 and, subject to paragraph (2), shall come into operation on 7th October 2004. 2 Regulations 2 and 5 shall come into operation, for the purposes of any type of case which is not one in relation to which 3rd March 2003 is the day appointed for the coming into operation of sections 1(2), 8 and 9 of, and paragraphs 11 and 16 of Schedule 3 to, the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000 , on the day on which those provisions come into operation in relation to that type of case. Amendment of the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amendment of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amendment of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amendment of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amendment of the Child Support (Maintenance Calculation Procedure) Regulations 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amendment of the Child Support (Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases) Regulations 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amendment of the Child Support (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 8 1 The Child Support (Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (9). 2 In regulation 2(1) (interpretation) – a after the definition of “the Act” there shall be inserted the following definition – “the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations ” means the Child Support (Arrears, Interest and Adjustment of Maintenance Assessments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 ; ; and b in the definition of “new amount” for “in accordance with the conversion decision” there shall be substituted “from the case conversion date”. 3 In regulation 3 (decision and notice of decision) for paragraph (2) there shall be substituted the following paragraph – 2 Where the Department acts in accordance with paragraph (1), the information used for the purposes of that supersession will be – a that held by the Department on the calculation date; or b where – i regulation 5(b) applies, and ii the Department is unable to make the decision required to be made in accordance with that regulation on the basis of the information referred to in sub-paragraph (a), that which was used or considered to make the maintenance assessment to be superseded in accordance with regulation 3(1)(a) or (b). . 4 After regulation 4 (revision, supersession and appeal of conversion decisions) there shall be inserted the following regulation – Revision and supersession of an adjustment 4A Where, on or after the calculation date, an application is made to the Department or it acts on its own initiative to revise or supersede an adjustment of the amounts payable under a maintenance assessment, it may revise or supersede that adjustment in accordance with the Decisions and Appeals Regulations . . 5 After regulation 5 (outstanding applications at calculation date) there shall be inserted the following regulation – Outstanding revisions and supersessions at calculation date 5A Regulation 5 shall apply in the same way to a decision of the Department acting on its own initiative under Article 18 or 19 of the former Order to revise or supersede a maintenance assessment, an interim maintenance assessment or a departure direction as it does to an application made for the same purpose. . 6 In regulation 9(1) (amount of child support maintenance payable) for “Where” there shall be substituted “Subject to regulation 9A, where”. 7 After regulation 9 there shall be inserted the following regulations – Adjustment of the amount of child support maintenance payable 9A 1 Subject to paragraph (2), where – a there has been an overpayment of child support maintenance under a maintenance assessment; and b the amount payable under that maintenance assessment has been adjusted under regulation 10 of the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations as it applies to a maintenance assessment, that adjustment shall apply to the new amount or the transitional amount in the conversion decision, as the case may be, if – i the overpayment remains on the case conversion date, and ii the Department considers it appropriate in all the circumstances of the case having regard to the matters set out in regulation 10(1)(b) of the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations as it applies to a conversion decision. 2 Where the conversion decision relates to more than one parent with care, the adjustment of the amount payable under a maintenance assessment which applies to the new amount or the transitional amount, as the case may be, in accordance with paragraph (1) shall only apply in respect of the apportioned amount payable to the parent with care in relation to whom the maintenance assessment subject to the adjustment was made. 3 In paragraph (2) the “apportioned amount” shall have the meaning given in regulation 11(4) . Attribution of payments 9B Where – a there are arrears of child support maintenance under a maintenance assessment; and b the Department has attributed any payment of child support maintenance made by an absent parent to child support maintenance due as it thinks fit, in accordance with regulation 9 of the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations as it applies to a maintenance assessment, that attribution of payments shall apply to the new amount or the transitional amount in the conversion decision, as the case may be, if – i the arrears remain on the case conversion date, and ii the Department has made that attribution of payments as it thought fit, in accordance with regulation 9 of the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations as it applies to a conversion decision. . 8 In regulation 16 (conversion calculation and conversion decision) – a in paragraph (1) for sub-paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph – b taking into account the information used in accordance with regulation 3(2); and ; and b after paragraph (2B) there shall be inserted the following paragraph – 2C For the purposes of regulations 9 and 10 of the Arrears, Interest and Adjustment Regulations, a conversion decision shall be treated on or after the case conversion date as if it were a maintenance calculation. . 9 In regulation 27 (subsequent decision with effect in transitional period-amount payable) – a in paragraph (9) , for “Subject to paragraph (10), where” there shall be substituted “Where”; b in paragraph (10) – i for “Where” there shall be substituted “Subject to paragraph (11), where”, and ii for the words from “so that the subsequent decision” to the end there shall be substituted “as if decision A had not been made.”; and c after paragraph (10) there shall be added the following paragraph – 11 In the circumstances set out in paragraph (10), paragraph (9) shall not apply where the decision in place before decision A was made was the decision which took effect from the case conversion date. . Amendment of the Child Support (Variations) Regulations 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Revocations 10 The following regulations are hereby revoked – a regulation 20(4) of the Social Security and Child Support (Jobseeker’s Allowance) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 ; and b regulation 7(7)(a) of the Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 . Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 6th October 2004. John O'Neill A senior officer of the Department for Social Development