Regulation 2 Interpretation and application

In these Regulations—

• “the 1998 Act” means the Social Security Act 1998^f1;

• “benefit week” means any period of seven days corresponding to the week in respect of which the relevant specified benefit is due to be paid;

• “claimant” means a claimant of a specified benefit who has a partner to whom these Regulations apply;

• “interview” means a work-focused interview with a partner which is conducted for any or all of the following purposes—

  1. (a)

     assessing the partner’s prospects for existing or future employment (whether paid or voluntary);

  2. (b)

     assisting or encouraging the partner to enhance his prospects of such employment;

  3. (c)

     identifying activities which the partner may undertake to strengthen his existing or future prospects of employment;

  4. (d)

     identifying current or future employment or training opportunities suitable to the partner’s needs; and

  5. (e)

     identifying educational opportunities connected with the existing or future employment prospects or needs of the partner;

• “officer” means a person who is an officer of, or who is providing services to or exercising functions of, the Secretary of State;

• “partner” means a person who is a member of the same couple as the claimant, or, in a case where the claimant has more than one partner, a person who is a partner of the claimant by reason of a polygamous marriage, but only where—

  1. (a)

     the claimant has been awarded a specified benefit at a higher rate referable to that partner; and

  2. (b)

     both the partner and the claimant have attained the age of 18 but have not attained the age of 60;

• “polygamous marriage” means any marriage during the subsistence of which a party to it is married to more than one person and the ceremony of marriage took place under the law of a country which permits polygamy;

• “specified benefit” means a benefit to which section 2AA applies.

Regulations 3 to 13 apply to a partner in circumstances where on or after 12th April 2004 the claimant’s award of a specified benefit is being administered from an office of the Department for Work and Pensions which is designated by the Secretary of State as a Jobcentre Plus Office^f2 and the claimant has been continuously entitled to the benefit for 26 weeks or longer.