# The Social Security (Jobcentre Plus Interviews for Partners) Regulations 2003, Regulation 2: Interpretation and application

Extent: E+W+S

(1) In these Regulations—
“the 1998 Act” means the Social Security Act 1998 ;
“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;
“couple” means—
(a)two people who are married to, or civil partners of, each other and are members of the same household; or
(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;
“interview” means a work-focused interview with a partner which is conducted for any or all of the following purposes—
(a)assessing the partner’s prospects for existing or future employment (whether paid or voluntary);
(b)assisting or encouraging the partner to enhance his prospects of such employment;
(c)identifying activities which the partner may undertake to strengthen his existing or future prospects of employment;
(d)identifying current or future employment or training opportunities suitable to the partner’s needs; and
(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—
(a)the claimant has been awarded a specified benefit at a higher rate referable to that partner; and
(b)both the partner and the claimant have attained the age of 18 but have not attained pensionable age;
“pensionable age”, in the case of a man born before 6th April 1955, means the age when a woman born on the same day as the man would attain pensionable age;
“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.
(2) For the purposes of these Regulations a person is to be treated as responsible for, and a member of the same household as, a child only where the person would be treated as being responsible for, and a member of the same household as, such a child under regulations 15 and 16 of the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987, if references in those Regulations to income support were to a specified benefit.
(2) ...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 and the claimant has been continuously entitled to the benefit for 26 weeks or longer.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/1886/regulation/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-jobcentre-plus-interviews-for-partners-regulations-2003/regulation-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.