Explanatory note

These Regulations make provision in relation to entitlement to health in pregnancy grant and supplement the entitlement provisions in Part 4 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (c. 14). They also prescribe entitlement and the amount of the grant. They make provision in relation to Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Regulation 1 brings into force the regulations on 1st January 2009 in order that claims for health in pregnancy grant can be made on or after this date.

Regulation 2 prescribes conditions a woman must satisfy to entitle her to the grant: A woman must be pregnant when she makes her claim; and she must be at least 25 weeks pregnant. She must also have received advice on matters relating to maternal health. A woman will only be eligible for the grant if her due date is on or after 6th April 2009.

Regulation 3 prescribes the categories of health professionals from whom advice on matters relating to maternal health must be received to be entitled to the grant.

Regulations 4 to 7 qualify the requirements under section 140A(3) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 and section 136A(3) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, that to be entitled to the grant the woman must be in Great Britain or Northern Ireland at the time she makes a claim for the grant.

Regulation 4 provides that unless the woman is ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and has a right to reside in the United Kingdom, she will be treated as not being in Great Britain or Northern Ireland as the case may be. Paragraph (3) provides that a woman who is in the United Kingdom only because she has been deported from another country is, nevertheless, to be regarded as ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom.

Regulation 5 treats Crown servants posted overseas as being in Great Britain. Regulations 6 and 7 also treat, respectively, the partners and daughters of those Crown servants as being in Great Britain.

Regulation 8 concerns the effect of immigration status on entitlement to the grant. Section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (c. 33) excludes women subject to immigration control (as defined by that section) from entitlement to the grant. Subsection (3) of that section permits exceptions to that exclusion to be prescribed. Regulation 8 prescribes such an exception, so as to include women falling within the descriptions of persons in Part II of the Social Security (Immigration and Asylum) Consequential Amendments Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/636). Regulation 9 does the same, in relation to the Social Security (Immigration and Asylum) Consequential Amendments Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 for women living in Northern Ireland.

Regulation 10 prescribes the amount of the grant.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.