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

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations provide for winter fuel payments to be made out of the social fund to persons who, in the third week of September in any year—

(a) are aged 60 or over;

(b) are ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland;

(c) satisfy the criteria in regulation 2, and

(d) are not excluded by regulation 3.

Regulation 4 provides for winter fuel payments to be made without the need for a claim to persons—

(a) whose entitlement thereto can be established from official records held by the Department, and

(b) who are entitled to income support in the third week in September in a year by virtue of a decision made after that week that they are refugees.

It further provides that decisions as to entitlement which are made without a claim may be made on the basis of official records but not so as to exclude the consideration of other evidence on a revision or supersession of that decision under the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.

Regulation 5 revokes legislation which has hitherto provided for social fund winter fuel payments.

These Regulations make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Social Security in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.