2006 No. 3152

pensions

The War Pensions Committees (Amendment) Regulations 2006

Made

Laid before Parliament

Coming into force

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 25 and 29 of the Social Security Act 19891 and sections 175(2) to (5) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 19922, makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation1

1

These Regulations may be cited as the War Pensions Committees (Amendment) Regulations 2006 and shall come into force on 1st January 2007.

2

In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” means the War Pensions Committees Regulations 20003.

Amendments to the principal Regulations2

1

The Table in regulation 6 shall be amended as follows—

a

in column 1 the word “Stirling” shall be deleted;

b

in column 1 after the words “East Renfrewshire” there shall be inserted “,Stirling”.

2

Regulation 8 shall be amended as follows—

a

For paragraph (1)(c) there shall be substituted—

c

support the Veterans Agency by monitoring its welfare service, raising awareness of the service it provides and liaising with other organisations with a view to ensuring that the welfare needs of pensioners, surviving spouses, surviving civil partners and their dependants are suitably addressed; and

b

In paragraph (1)(d) for the words “War Pensions Agency” there shall be substituted “Veterans Agency”.

3

For the table in Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations there shall be substituted the table set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Defence

Derek TwiggParliamentary Under Secretary of StateMinistry of Defence

SCHEDULE 1TABLE TO BE SUBSTITUTED FOR THE TABLE SET OUT IN SCHEDULE 1 TO THE PRINCIPAL REGULATIONS

Table

COMMITTEES IN ENGLAND

Column 1

Column 2

Group Comprising

Name of Committee

The counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk; and the non-metropolitan districts of Luton, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.

Eastern War Pensions Committee.

Greater London.

London War Pensions Committee.

The counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire; and the non-metropolitan districts of Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and Rutland.

East Midlands War Pensions Committee.

The counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire; and the metropolitan districts of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton; and the non-metropolitan districts of Herefordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Telford and Wrekin.

West Midlands War Pensions Committee.

The counties of Durham and Northumberland; the metropolitan districts of Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland; and the non-metropolitan districts of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.

North East War Pensions Committee.

The counties of Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire; the metropolitan districts of Bolton, Bury, Knowsley, Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, St Helens, Salford, Sefton, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan and Wirral; and the non-metropolitan districts of Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Halton and Warrington.

North West War Pensions Committee.

The counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex; and the non-metropolitan districts of Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, the Medway Towns, Milton Keynes, Portsmouth, Reading, Slough, Southampton, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham.

South East War Pensions Committee.

The counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire; the non-metropolitan districts of Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Bristol, North Somerset, Plymouth, Poole, South Gloucestershire, Swindon and Torbay; and the Isles of Scilly.

South West War Pensions Committee.

The county of North Yorkshire; the metropolitan districts of Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Doncaster, Kirklees, Leeds, Rotherham, Sheffield and Wakefield; and the non-metropolitan districts of the East Riding of Yorkshire, Kingston upon Hull, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and York.

Yorkshire and Humber War Pensions Committee.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

These Regulations make changes to the constitution and functions of the war pensions committees which were established by the War Pensions Committees Regulations 2000 pursuant to section 25 of the Social Security Act 1989.

Regulation 2(1) moves Stirling from the East Scotland War Pensions Committee to the West Scotland War Pensions Committee.

Regulation 2(2) inserts a new regulation 8(1)(c) by removing the war pensions committees’ power to monitor the Veterans Agency and other organisations and replacing it with a power to monitor the welfare service of the Veterans Agency and liaise with other organisations. Regulation 2(3) also replaces the reference to the War Pensions Agency with the Veterans Agency to reflect the change in its name which took place on 2nd April 2002.

Regulation 2(3) replaces the table of war pensions committees for regions in England in Schedule 1 to the 2000 Regulations.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been carried out for this instrument as it has no impact on business, charities or voluntary bodies.