24 April, 2020 Open access
24 April, 2020 Open access
New statutory rule
New regulations have been issued in Northern Ireland that increase the annual income threshold above which a claimant may not normally be eligible for discretionary support.
Coming into operation on the day after they are approved by a resolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Discretionary Support (Amendment No. 2) (COVID-19) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (SR.No.67/2020) amend the Discretionary Support Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (SR.No.270/2016) to raise the annual income threshold above which a claimant may not normally be eligible for discretionary support so that it is based on a working week of 45 hours (as opposed to the current calculation based on 40 hours a week) over 52 weeks paid at the National Minimum Wage for a person over the age of 25.
NB – Communities Minister Deidre Hargey advised earlier this week that the change in response to the COVID-19 outbreak will increase the annual income threshold to £20,405.
SR.No.67/2020 is available from legislation.gov.uk
Our webtools: