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Amendment of the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001

9.—(1) The Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001 M1 are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 1(2) (citation, commencement and interpretation)—

(a)after the definition of “Council Tax Benefit Regulations” insert 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;; and; and

(b)in the definition of “partner”, in sub-paragraph (a) for “a married couple or an unmarried couple” substitute “ a couple ”.

F1(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .