Paragraph 1 Citation and interpretationI1

This Scheme may be cited as the Emergency Fuel Payment Scheme (Northern Ireland) 2025.

In this Scheme:—

• “couple” means—

  1. (a)

     two people who are married to, or civil partners of, each other and are members of the same household; or

  2. (b)

     two people who are not married to, or civil partners of, each other but are living together as if they were a married couple or civil partners;

• “Emergency Fuel Payment” means a payment made under Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to this Scheme;

• “free in-patient treatment” is to be construed in accordance with regulation 2(4) and (5) of the Social Security (Hospital In-Patients) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005^f1;

• “independent hospital” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2^f2 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003;

• “nursing home” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 11 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003^f3;

• “pensionable age” has the meaning given by the rules in paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995^f4;

• “polygamous marriage” means any marriage which took place under the laws of a country which permits polygamy where—

  1. (a)

     any member of the marriage is for the time being married to more than one person; and

  2. (b)

     all the members of the marriage are members of the same household;

• “qualifying week” means in respect of the week from 16th to 22nd September 2024;

• “residential care” means, disregarding any period of temporary absence, a person residing in—

  1. (a)

     a nursing home;

  2. (b)

     an independent hospital; or

  3. (c)

     accommodation provided under section 3(1) of the Polish Resettlement Act 1947^f5;

• “Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment” means a payment made under regulation 2 of the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024^f6;

• “social security information” means information held by or on behalf of the Department and obtained as a result of, or for the purpose of, the exercise of the Department’s functions in relation to social security;

• “withdrawal agreement”, “EEA EFTA separation agreement” and “Swiss citizens’ rights agreement” have the same meanings as in section 39(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020^f7.