3.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this regulation, a woman shall not be disentitled to a maternity grant by reason of the fact that on the date of the confinement she is outside Great Britain, if either—
(a)in respect of the last complete tax year before the relevant time the relevant person has an earnings factor derived from contributions, either paid or credited, of a relevant class which is not less than that year's lower earnings limit multiplied by 50; or
(b)at the date of the confinement her husband is a serving member of the forces, as defined in regulation 1(2) of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 1975, other than either—
(i)a member of any territorial or reserve force mentioned in Part I of Schedule 5 to those regulations who is not undergoing training or instruction as such a member for a continuous period exceeding 72 consecutive hours, or
(ii)a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment who is neither serving also as a member of any of the regular naval, military or air forces of the Crown, nor on the full-time permanent staff of that regiment, nor serving or undergoing training in that regiment for a continuous period exceeding 72 consecutive hours;
and any such woman shall, in addition, not be disqualified for receiving a maternity grant by reason of her being absent from Great Britain.
(2) For the purpose of paragraph (1)(a) the expression “relevant person” means
(3) The provisions of paragraph (1)(a) shall not apply—
(a)to a maternity grant payable to a woman by virtue only of her husband's contributions unless at the time of the confinement she is residing with her husband, or, if he is dead, unless she was residing with him at the time of his death; or
(b)to a maternity grant in respect of expectation of a woman's confinement.