The Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Citation, commencement and interpretation

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)

  a married or unmarried couple, or

  (b)

  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.

Social fund winter fuel payments

2.  Subject to regulation 3, the Department shall pay to a person who—

(a) in respect of any day falling within the qualifying week is ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland, and

(b) has attained the age of 60 in or before the qualifying week,

a winter fuel payment of—

(i) £100 unless he is in residential care or head (ii)(aa) applies, or

(ii) £50 if income support or an income-based jobseeker’s allowance has not been, nor falls to be, paid to him in respect of the qualifying week and he is—

(aa) in that week living with a person to whom a payment under these Regulations has been, or falls to be, made in respect of the winter following the qualifying week, or

(bb) in residential care.

Persons not entitled to a social fund winter fuel payment

3.—(1) Regulation 2 shall not apply in respect of a person who—

(a) is in the qualifying week—

(i) a partner of a person aged 60 or over in the qualifying week to whom income support or an income-based jobseeker’s allowance has been, or falls to be, paid in respect of the qualifying week;

(ii) receiving free in-patient treatment and has been receiving free in-patient treatment for more than 52 weeks, or

(iii) detained in custody under a sentence imposed by a court, or

(b) subject to paragraph (2), has not made a claim for a winter fuel payment before the 31st March following the qualifying week in respect of the winter following that week.

(2) paragraph (1)(b) shall not apply where—

(a) a payment has been made by virtue of regulation 4(1) before the 31st March following the qualifying week in respect of the winter following that week, or

(b) regulation 4(2) applies.

Making a winter fuel payment without a claim

4.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Department may before the 31st March of the year following the year in which the qualifying week falls make a winter fuel payment under regulation 2 in respect of the preceding winter to a person who (disregarding regulation 3(b)) appears from official records held by the Department to be entitled to a payment under that regulation.

(2) Where a person becomes entitled to income support in respect of the qualifying week by virtue of a decision made after that week that section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999(6) (exclusions) ceases to apply to him the Department shall make a winter fuel payment to that person under regulation 2 in respect of the winter following the qualifying week.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), for the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) official records held by the Department as to a person’s circumstances shall be sufficient evidence thereof for the purpose of deciding his entitlement to a winter fuel payment and its amount.

(4) Paragraph (3) shall not apply so as to exclude the revision of a decision under Article 10 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (revision of decisions) or the supersession of a decision under Article 11 of that Order(7) (decisions superseding earlier decisions) or the consideration of fresh evidence in connection with the revision or supersession of a decision.

Revocations

5.  The Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998(8), the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998(9), and the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999(10) are hereby revoked

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 15th March 2000.

L.S.

John O'Neill

Senior Officer of the

Department for Social Development