2021 No. 15
Social Security

The Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021

Made
Coming into operation
The Department for Communities makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 2 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 20181.

Citation, commencement and interpretation1.

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 and shall come into operation on 19th February 2021.

(2)

The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 19542 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

Amendment of the Social Fund Maternity and Funeral Expenses (General) Regulations2.

In regulation 7(9)(a) of the Social Fund Maternity and Funeral Expenses (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 20053 (funeral payments: entitlement), for “Norway or Switzerland” substitute “Norway, Switzerland or the United Kingdom”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Communities on 28th January 2021

(L.S.)
Anne McCleary
A senior officer of the Department for Communities
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations are made in order to address failures of retained EU law to operate effectively and other deficiencies, in particular deficiencies under paragraphs (c) to (ea) of section 8(2) and paragraph (a) of section 8(3) of European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16), arising from the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

These Regulations make amendments to domestic legislation, specifically the Social Fund Maternity and Funeral Expenses (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 (S.R. 2005 No. 506) (the “Social Fund Regulations”), to reflect that the United Kingdom is no longer a Member State of the European Union. This is so that persons who fall within regulation 7(10) of the Social Fund Regulations continue to satisfy the condition in regulation 7(9) of those Regulations if the funeral takes place in the United Kingdom.