SCHEDULE 3 Amendments of subordinate legislation relating to social security

Income Support (General) Regulations 1987

13.—(1) Amend the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 M1 as follows.

(2) In regulation 2 (interpretation), in paragraph (1)—

(a) in the definition of “close relative”, for “or the spouse of any of the preceding persons or, if that person is one of an unmarried couple, the other member of that couple” substitute “ or, if any of the preceding persons is one member of a couple, the other member of that couple ”;

(b) for the definition of “couple” substitute the following definition—

““couple” means—

(a) a man and woman who are married to each other and are members of the same household;

(b) a man and woman who are not married to each other but are living together as husband and wife;

(c) two people of the same sex who are civil partners of each other and are members of the same household; or

(d) two people of the same sex who are not civil partners of each other but are living together as if they were civil partners,

and for the purposes of paragraph (d), two people of the same sex are to be regarded as living together as if they were civil partners if, but only if, they would be regarded as living together as husband and wife were they instead two people of the opposite sex;;”;

(c) in the definition of “partner”, in paragraph (a), for “a married or an unmarried couple” substitute “ a couple ”;

(d) in the definition of “war widower's pension”M2 —

(i) after “any widower's” insert “ or surviving civil partner's ”;

(ii) after “for a widower” insert “ or surviving civil partner ”.

(3) In regulation 21 (special cases), in paragraph (3), in the definition of “partner of a person subject to immigration control”M3 , in sub-paragraph (iii)—

(a) for “his” substitute “ the member's ”;

(b) for “her” substitute “ the partner ”.

(4) Amend regulation 54 (interpretation) as follows—

(a) in the definition of “liable relative”, for “or former spouse” substitute “ , former spouse, civil partner or former civil partner ”;

(b) in the definition of “payment”M4 , in sub-paragraph (a)—

(i) at the end of paragraph (ii), insert “ or ”;

(ii) after paragraph (ii), as amended by sub-paragraph (i) above, insert the following paragraph—

“(iii) any proceedings for separation, dissolution or nullity in relation to a civil partnership;”.

(5) In regulation 61 (interpretation), in the definition of “contribution”M5 , after “the holder's spouse” insert “ or civil partner ”.

(6) In Schedule 1B (prescribed categories of person) M6 , in paragraph 16A (certain persons aged between 55 and 60 whose spouse has died) M7 —

(a) in the heading preceding it, after “spouse” insert “ or civil partner ”;

(b) in sub-paragraph (b), after “9th April 2006” insert “ or whose civil partner died during the period beginning on 5th December 2005 and ending on 9th April 2006 ”.

(7) In Schedule 2 (applicable amounts), in paragraph 8A (bereavement premium) M8 , in sub-paragraph (1)(b), after “9th April 2001” insert “ or of a civil partner who died on or after 5th December 2005 ”.

(8) In Schedule 9 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings)—

(a) in paragraph 16(c) M9 , for “widow or widower” substitute “ widow, widower or surviving civil partner ”;

(b) in paragraph 39 M10 —

(i) in sub-paragraph (2)(a), after “estranged or divorced” insert “ or with whom he has formed a civil partnership that has not been dissolved or, where that person has died, had not been dissolved at the time of that person's death ”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (3), after “estranged or divorced” insert “ or, where the partner or former partner and that person have formed a civil partnership, the civil partnership has not been dissolved or, if either of them has died, had not been dissolved at the time of the death ”;

(iii) in sub-paragraph (4)(a), after “estranged or divorced” insert “ or with whom he has formed a civil partnership that has not been dissolved ”;

(iv) in sub-paragraph (5)(a), after “estranged or divorced” insert “ or with whom he had formed a civil partnership that had not been dissolved ”;

(c) in paragraph 54 M11 , for “widows or widowers” substitute “ widows, widowers or surviving civil partners ”;

(d) in paragraph 55 M12 , for “widows or widowers” substitute “ widows, widowers or surviving civil partners ”;

(e) in paragraph 56(1) M13 —

(i) in paragraph (a), for “widow or widower” substitute “ widow, widower or surviving civil partner ”;

(ii) in paragraph (b), for “widows or widowers” substitute “ widows, widowers or surviving civil partners ”.

(9) In Schedule 10 (capital to be disregarded)—

(a) in paragraph 4(b) M14 , after “estranged or divorced” insert “ or with whom he formed a civil partnership that has been dissolved ”;

(b) in paragraph 22 M15 —

(i) in sub-paragraph (2)(a), after “estranged or divorced” insert “ or with whom he has formed a civil partnership that has not been dissolved or, where that person has died, had not been dissolved at the time of that person's death ”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (3), after “estranged or divorced” insert “ or, where the partner or former partner and that person have formed a civil partnership, the civil partnership has not been dissolved or, if either of them has died, had not been dissolved at the time of the death ”;

(iii) in sub-paragraph (4)(a), after “estranged or divorced” insert “ or with whom he has formed a civil partnership that has not been dissolved ”;

(iv) in sub-paragraph (5)(a), after “estranged or divorced” insert “ or with whom he had formed a civil partnership that had not been dissolved ”;

(c) in paragraph 25 M16 , after “estrangement or divorce from” insert “ , or dissolution of his civil partnership with, ”;

(d) in paragraph 61 M17 , in sub-paragraphs (c) and (d), after “deceased spouse” insert “ or deceased civil partner ”;

(e) in paragraph 65 M18 , after “deceased spouse” (in each place) insert “ or deceased civil partner ”.

Marginal Citations

M1 S.I. 1987/1967.

M2 The definition of “war widower's pension” was inserted by S.I. 2002/841.

M3 The definition of “partner of a person subject to immigration control” was inserted by S.I. 2000/636.

M4 The definition of “payment” was amended by S.I. 1988/663 and S.I. 2003/455.

M5 The definition of “contribution” was substituted by S.I. 1996/1944, and amended by S.I. 1998/563, S.I. 1999/1935 and S.I. 2001/2319.

M6 Schedule 1B was inserted by S.I. 1996/206.

M7 Paragraph 16A was inserted by S.I .2000/2239 for the period from 9th April 2001 to 9th April 2006 only.

M8 Paragraph 8A was inserted by S.I. 2000/2239 for the period from 9th April 2001 to 9th April 2006 only.

M9 Paragraph 16 was substituted by S.I. 1995/2792, and sub-paragraph (c) was amended by S.I. 1995/3282 and S.I. 2002/841.

M10 Paragraph 39 was substituted by S.I. 1991/1175 and amended by S.I. 1992/1101, S.I. 1993/963 and S.I. 2000/1981.

M11 Paragraph 54 was inserted by S.I. 1994/2139 and amended by S.I. 2002/841.

M12 Paragraph 55 was inserted by S.I. 1994/2139 and amended by S.I. 2002/841.

M13 Paragraph 56 was inserted by S.I. 1994/2139 and paragraph 56(1)(a) was amended by S.I. 2002/841.

M14 Paragraph 4(b) was amended by S.I. 1988/910.

M15 Paragraph 22 was substituted by S.I. 1991/1175 and amended by S.I. 1992/1101, S.I. 1993/1249, S.I. 2000/1981 and S.I. 2004/1141.

M16 Paragraph 25 was inserted by S.I. 1988/910 and amended by S.I. 2003/511.

M17 Paragraph 61 was inserted by S.I. 2001/22.

M18 Paragraph 65 was inserted by S.I. 2001/3481.