Commentary on Sections Section 10: Loss of benefit regulations
Section 10 contains provisions about the making of regulations by the Department.
Section 10(1) defines the term ‘prescribed’ to mean prescribed by, or in accordance with, regulations made by the Department.
Section 10(2) provides for all regulations under these provisions, other than those regulations referred to in subsection (3), to be made subject to negative resolution.
Section 10(3) lists the regulations that are subject to the confirmatory procedure. These are:
	regulations that prescribe any additional benefits that are to be treated as disqualifying but not sanctionable benefits for the purposes of section 6;
	regulations to prescribe a reduced amount of IS to be paid to a claimant, or a member of the offender's family, who is subject to a fraud sanction;
	regulations prescribing the circumstances in which reduced hardship payments are to be made, and the amount, where the sanction applies to a single claimant on JSA, or where both members of a joint-claim couple are subject to a sanction. This subsection also applies to regulations prescribing a reduced amount of JSA to be paid to a member of the offender’s family and to regulations prescribing a reduced amount of HB to be paid to a claimant, or member of the offender’s family, who is subject to a fraud sanction;
	regulations prescribing a reduced amount of a joint-claim JSA where one member of a couple is subject to sanction.
Section 10(4) applies technical provisions of the Social Security (Northern Ireland)  Order 1998 to the regulation-making powers in sections 6 to 9, for example, to enable the regulations to include incidental, consequential and transitional provisions.
Section 10(5) provides that regulations under these measures can include different provision for different areas.