{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/emergency-fuel-payment-regulations-northern-ireland-2025/schedule-1/paragraph-1",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/emergency-fuel-payment-regulations-northern-ireland-2025/schedule-1/paragraph-1.json",
  "legislation": "nisr/2025/23",
  "legislation_title": "The Emergency Fuel Payment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/emergency-fuel-payment-regulations-northern-ireland-2025",
  "path": "schedule/1/paragraph/1",
  "kind": "paragraph",
  "number": "1",
  "heading": "Citation and interpretation",
  "text": "(1) This Scheme may be cited as the Emergency Fuel Payment Scheme (Northern Ireland) 2025.\n(2) In this Scheme:—\n“couple” means—\n(a) two people who are married to, or civil partners of, each other and are members of the same household; or\n(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;\n“Emergency Fuel Payment” means a payment made under Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to this Scheme;\n“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;\n“independent hospital” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003;\n“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;\n“pensionable age” has the meaning given by the rules in paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995;\n“polygamous marriage” means any marriage which took place under the laws of a country which permits polygamy where—\n(a) any member of the marriage is for the time being married to more than one person; and\n(b) all the members of the marriage are members of the same household;\n“qualifying week” means in respect of the week from 16th to 22nd September 2024;\n“residential care” means, disregarding any period of temporary absence, a person residing in—\n(a) a nursing home;\n(b) an independent hospital; or\n(c) accommodation provided under section 3(1) of the Polish Resettlement Act 1947;\n“Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment” means a payment made under regulation 2 of the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024;\n“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;\n“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.",
  "extent": "N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "Sch. 1 para. 1 in operation at 3.3.2025, see reg. 1"
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f1",
      "text": "S.R. 2005 No. 580"
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f2",
      "text": "Article 2 was amended by paragraph 1(1)(d) of Schedule 6 to the Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (Northern Ireland) 2009 (c. 1)."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f3",
      "text": "S.I. 2003/431 (N.I. 9); Article 11 was amended by paragraph 1(1)(d) of Schedule 6 to the Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (Northern Ireland) 2009 (c. 1)"
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f4",
      "text": "1995 No. 3213 (N.I. 22)"
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f5",
      "text": "1947 c.19"
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f6",
      "text": "S.R. 2024 No. 160"
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f7",
      "text": "2020 c. 1; amended by S.I. 2024/164"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2025/23/schedule/1/paragraph/1",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T00:26:50.733396+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}