The Department for Communities has made a Statutory Rule entitled “the Universal Credit (Earned Income) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020” (S.R. 2020 No.226), which comes into operation on 16th November 2020.

These Regulations amend the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 by substituting a new regulation 62. They implement the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Secretary of State v Johnson & others [2020] EWCA Civ 778.

Regulation 62 makes provision for the way information, in particular information reported to HMRC by Real Time Information Employers is to be used in calculating a person’s earned income. The substituted regulation broadly replicates the previous regulation with additional provision allowing for reallocation of payments to different assessment periods. This means that only one set of earnings will be taken into account in each assessment period for people who are paid calendar monthly.

Copies of the Rule may be purchased from the Stationery Office at www.tsoshop.co.uk or by contacting TSO Customer Services on 0333 202 5070 or viewed online at www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr.