In these Regulations—

• “1992 Act” means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 M1;

• “1996 Order” means the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996;

• “A”, in relation to C, means the person with whom C is, or is expected to be, placed for adoption, or, in a case where two people have been matched jointly, whichever of them has elected to be the child's adopter for the purposes of the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 M2;

• “adoption agency” has the meaning given—

  1. a

     in relation to Northern Ireland, by Article 3(3) of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 M3;

  2. b

     in relation to England and Wales, by section 2(1) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 M4; and

  3. c

     in relation to Scotland, by section 119(1) of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 M5;

• “adoption pay period” means the period in which statutory adoption pay may be payable in respect of C;

• “allowance curtailment date” means the last day of M's maternity allowance period where that period has been reduced under section 35(3A) of the 1992 Act M6;

• “AP” means the person who at the date that C is placed for adoption is married to, or the civil partner or the partner of, A;

• “C” means the child in relation to whom an entitlement to shared parental leave arises;

• “expected week of birth” means the week, beginning with midnight between Saturday and Sunday, in which it is expected that C will be born;

• “leave curtailment date” means—

  1. a

     in Part 2, the last day of M's statutory maternity leave period where that period has been curtailed under Article 103(3)(ba) or 105(3)(a) of the 1996 Order M7;

  2. b

     in Part 3, the last day of A's statutory adoption leave period where that period has been curtailed under Article 107A(2A)(a) or 107B(3)(aa) of the 1996 Order M8;

• “M” means the mother (or expectant mother) of C;

• “maternity allowance” means a maternity allowance under section 35(1) of the 1992 Act M9;

• “maternity allowance period” means the period referred to in section 35(2) of the 1992 Act M10;

• “maternity pay period” has the meaning given by regulation 2 of the Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 M11;

• “P” means the father of C, or the person who at the date of C's birth is married to, or the civil partner or the partner of, M;

• “partner” in relation to M or A, means a person (whether of a different sex or the same sex) who lives with M or A and with C in an enduring family relationship but is not M's or A's child, parent, grandchild, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew;

• “pay curtailment date” means—

  1. a

     in Part 2, the last day of M's maternity pay period where that period has been reduced under section 161(3A) of the 1992 Act M12;

  2. b

     in Part 3, the last day of A's adoption pay period where that period has been reduced under section 167ZN(2A) M13;

• “period of leave notice” means a notice given in accordance with regulation 12 or 28;

• “placed for adoption” means—

  1. a

     placed for adoption by virtue of regulation 12 of the Adoption Agencies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989 M14;

  2. b

     placed by an authority with a person who is an approved foster parent who is also an approved prospective adopter M15 where the authority—

     1. i

        is considering adoption for the child; or

     2. ii

        is satisfied that adoption is in the best interests of the child,

     and is considering whether that person would be a suitable adoptive parent for that child;

  3. c

     placed for adoption under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 or the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007; or

  4. d

     placed in accordance with section 22C of the Children Act 1989 M16 with a local authority foster parent who is also a prospective adopter;

• “processing”, in relation to information, has the meaning given by section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 M17;

• “returned after being placed for adoption” means—

  1. a

     returned to the authority under Article 31(3) of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 M18;

  2. b

     where the child is placed for adoption in the circumstances described in paragraph (b) of the definition of “placed for adoption”, returned to the authority following termination of the placement;

  3. c

     returned under sections 31 to 35 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002;

  4. d

     in Scotland, returned to the adoption agency, adoption society or nominated person in accordance with section 25(6) of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007; or

  5. e

     where the child is placed in accordance with section 22C of the Children Act 1989, returned to the adoption agency following a termination of the placement;

• “revocation notice” means a notice given under Article 103(3)(bb), 105(3)(aa), 107A(2A)(b), or 107B(3)(aa) of the 1996 Order M19 or section 35(3D), 161(3D), or 167ZN(2D) of the 1992 Act M20, as the case may be, which revokes a notice previously given under that section;

• “shared parental leave” means leave under section 107E or 107G of the 1996 Order;

• “statutory adoption leave” means ordinary adoption leave under Article 107A of the 1996 Order or additional adoption leave under Article 107B of that Order;

• “statutory adoption pay” has the meaning given in section 167ZL of the 1992 Act M21;

• “statutory maternity leave” means ordinary maternity leave under Article 103 of the 1996 Order or additional maternity leave under Article 105 of that Order M22;

• “statutory maternity pay” has the meaning given in section 160(1) of the 1992 Act; and

• “statutory shared parental pay” means any pay payable in accordance with the provisions of Part 12ZC of the 1992 Act M23.

In paragraph (d) of the definition of “placed for adoption” in paragraph (1)—

• “local authority foster parent” means a person approved as a local authority foster parent in accordance with regulations made by virtue of paragraph 12F of Schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989 M31;

• “prospective adopter” means a person who has been approved as suitable to adopt a child and has been notified of that decision in accordance with regulation 30B(4) of the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 M32.