1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation on 3rd April 2000.
(2) In these Regulations—
“free in-patient treatment” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 2(2) of the Social Security (Hospital In-Patients) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1975(1);
“the Income Support Regulations” means the Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(2);
“qualifying week” means in respect of any year the week beginning on and including the third Monday in the September of that year;
“nursing home” has the meaning it bears in regulation 19(2) of the Income Support Regulations (persons in homes for persons in need and nursing homes);
“partner” means a member of—
a married or unmarried couple, or
a polygamous marriage;
“residential accommodation” has the meaning it bears in regulation 21(3) of the Income Support Regulations(3) (special cases);
“residential care home” has the meaning it bears in regulation 19(2) of the Income Support Regulations(4).
(3) In these Regulations a person—
(a)is in residential care if, disregarding any period of temporary absence, he lives in—
(i)a residential care home;
(ii)a nursing home, or
(iii)residential accommodation,
throughout the qualifying week and the period of 12 weeks immediately before the qualifying week;
(b)lives with another person if—
(i)disregarding any period of temporary absence, they share accommodation as their mutual home, and
(ii)they are not in residential care.
(4) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(5) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
S.R. 1975 No. 109; regulation 2(2) was amended by regulation 2 of S.R. 1992 No. 453
The definition of “residential accommodation” was substituted by paragraph 1(4)(a) of Schedule 1 to S.R. 1993 No. 149
The definition of “residential care home” was inserted by paragraph 1(3)(a) of Schedule 1 to S.R. 1993 No. 149 and amended by regulation 4(9)(d) of S.R. 1993 No. 373 and paragraph 1(e) of Schedule 12 to S.R. 1994 No. 65